pesky
Americanadjective
-
peskier,
comparative
-
peskiest
superlative
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of pesky
1765–75; irregular formation from pest ( def. ) + -y 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Anything pesky is annoying. Pesky things get on your nerves, like pesky mosquitoes that ruin an outdoor movie or pesky ants that march away with all of your picnic food. Pesky things are irritating, like small children who poke you on the leg for ten minutes while you try to discuss Nietzsche. A pesky fly dive-bombs by your head all afternoon. An itch you can't reach is pesky. The word pesky is an old word from New England, as in “like a pest,” but in a funny accent. Different people find different things pesky, but pesky things are never terrible, just very annoying.
Vocabulary lists containing pesky
"The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry
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Sarah, Plain and Tall
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There, two pesky reporters were digging into Watergate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Brown-speckled bananas that are soft to the touch, nauseatingly sweet and bring forth a few pesky fruit flies.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
There is one pesky concern—that congressional review period.
From Slate ● May 26, 2026
As in both earlier games in this series, the Thunder treated a Lakers lead like a pesky gnat, swatting it away with a casual flick as if it never existed.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026
“That pesky Spot,” I heard her say impatiently.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
Specifically, there’s that pesky hinge, an even peskier flexible screen, and the peskiest of all: wires.
From The Verge ● Aug. 11, 2021
The more scientific answer would be “in some ways,” because their lineup will be peskier with Adam Eaton at the top, their speed and contact game stronger for his presence.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 9, 2017
Asked about who presented the peskier test in the two-hour match, two-time U.S.
From Reuters ● Aug. 26, 2014
He got peskier in faceoffs and more physical on the boards — by Kane standards.
From Chicago Tribune ● Apr. 12, 2012
In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder added the Perkins piece in the deal with Boston, thereby making themselves a bit tougher inside and a tad peskier to the Lakers.
From Newsweek ● Mar. 16, 2011
One of the league’s peskiest defenders, Patrick Beverley, tried to mirror him move for move before he eventually was called for a foul.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2023
It also didn’t help that Sunday was Washington’s second game without one of its peskiest defenders in backup point guard Delon Wright, who could be sidelined up to two months with a hamstring issue.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 30, 2022
Specifically, there’s that pesky hinge, an even peskier flexible screen, and the peskiest of all: wires.
From The Verge ● Aug. 11, 2021
Accuracy off the tee and putting have been his peskiest issues, but he still had the Tour’s 10th-best scoring average at the end of August.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2018
McFay, a carpenter, who had distinguished himself at the previous trial by the melodramatic quality of his testimony, proved the peskiest witness of all.
From Roosevelt in the Bad Lands by Hermann Hagedorn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
