pester
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pestersimple
-
pesterssimple
-
have pesteredperfect
-
has pesteredperfect
-
am pesteringprogressive
-
are pesteringprogressive
-
is pesteringprogressive
-
have been pesteringperfect progressive
-
has been pesteringperfect progressive
Past
-
pesteredsimple
-
had pesteredperfect
-
was pesteringprogressive
-
were pesteringprogressive
-
had been pesteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pester
1530–40; perhaps aphetic variant of empester, impester to tangle, encumber (though pester is found earlier than these 2 words) < Middle French empestrer to hobble, entangle < Vulgar Latin *impāstōriāre to hobble, equivalent to im- im- 1 + pāstōri ( a ) a hobble, noun use of Latin pāstōrius of a herdsman or shepherd + -āre infinitive suffix ( see pastor); aphetic form apparently reinforced by pest ( cf. -er 6)
Explanation
To pester someone is to annoyingly nag them about something. Pestering is repetitive and bothersome. When a child asks a parent something over and over again — like "Can I have candy? Please? Can I have candy now?" — that's an example of pestering. Parents also pester kids when they say "Clean your room" or "Take out the garbage" over and over. Pestering is like requesting, but doing it many times, usually to the point of annoyance. No one likes to be pestered.
Vocabulary lists containing pester
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act V
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Stargirl
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Crash
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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’s a store chain called Five Below that is designed to maximize pester power.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
And I never needed to pester him for stories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
But as I tried to pester, cajole, and play to what I thought were his sympathies to convince him to speak with me, he quickly stopped being mad.
From Slate ● May 31, 2024
"They are predators and their main prey are insects, many of which eat our crops and pester our livestock," its website suggests.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2023
Neighbors and relatives used to pester my mom.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
And in any given group, there is inevitably a queen bee who pesters her friends to do things beyond their comfort zone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
He described Mr Amro as an "anarchist who frequently pesters IDF soldiers in Hebron".
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2023
On their way to Bill and Frank’s, Ellie pesters Joel with questions about the pandemic, and he explains to her — and to us — more about what happened.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2023
If she pesters your husband, that’s his problem.
From Slate ● May 29, 2020
He constantly pesters students and teachers to properly dispose of their plastic water bottles.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Snead said he pestered Berry “probably jokingly at first,” before talks became more serious before and after the NFL draft in late April.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
He pestered his parents and friends about the risks of AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Surely only Williams pestered the woman about it afterwards.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
As we explored, I pestered Endro for the names of the trees we passed.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 23, 2024
On the way home they pestered him again and again to tell the story, especially the look on the teacher’s face.
From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli
Become a real nuisance and tech boosters will eventually give up, handing the future back to the pestering, teeming masses.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
The idea for Campus Guardian Angel came from Justin Marston, a British entrepreneur and Mithril co-founder, who saw videos of small Ukrainian drones pestering Russian soldiers with guns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
As she waits for her fiancé, who is delayed by inclement weather, to arrive, her guests buzz around her like candy-colored flies, pestering her.
From New York Times ● May 30, 2024
Davide Ancelotti had been pestering his father, Carlo, to make one particular substitution.
From BBC ● May 28, 2024
Ferris, himself fed up with construction delays and Burnham’s pestering, had told Gronau to turn the wheel or tear it off the tower.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
