pester

[pes-ter]

See more synonyms for pester on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to bother persistently with petty annoyances; trouble: Don't pester me with your trivial problems.
Obsolete. to overcrowd.

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. -er⁶)

Related formspes·ter·er, nounpes·ter·ing·ly, adverbpes·ter·some, adjectiveun·pes·tered, adjective

Synonyms for pester

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1. annoy, vex, tease, disturb; irritate, provoke, plague; badger, harry, hector.

Antonyms for pester

1. delight, entertain.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pestered

bedevil, annoy, nag, tease, hector, irk, torment, hassle, hound, badger, disturb, nudge, beleaguer, ride, tantalize, dog, insist, remind, plague, importune

Examples from the Web for pestered

Contemporary Examples of pestered

About two years ago, a woman claimed to be pestered by a spirit throughout the night.
Would You Stay in Lizzie Borden’s Ax-Murder House?
Nina Strochlic
October 30, 2014
I quit my fancy art-gallery job, threw myself into a wide variety of classes, and pestered Cory until he offered me a job.
Yes, Women Can Make Great Wine
Jordan Salcito
March 22, 2014
The jazz fan who pestered him for narcotics turned out to be a federal agent.
The Jazz Pianist That John F. Kennedy Saved
Ted Gioia
August 16, 2013
When I was a kid, I pestered old people with questions about what life had been like in old times.
Literary City: Boris Akunin, a Dissident in Moscow
Henry Krempels
April 4, 2013
They seem bothered and pestered by the very patients and citizens they are sworn to help.
Mitt’s Bizarre Lyme Disease Offensive
Kent Sepkowitz
October 2, 2012

Historical Examples of pestered

I know not what I have written—I am pestered with people around me.
The Letters of Robert Burns
Robert Burns
He has pestered me to get back there ever since I showed him over the place the day he arrived.
The Inn at the Red Oak
Latta Griswold
But the mere trooth is, parson, I'm pestered by them promises I makes deeceased.
Faro Nell and Her Friends
Alfred Henry Lewis
He says she knows enough; an' he ain't goin' t' have her pestered.
Janet of the Dunes
Harriet T. Comstock
After that I wanted to write to him every day and pestered Mahananda accordingly.
My Reminiscences
Rabindranath Tagore

British Dictionary definitions for pestered

pester

verb

(tr) to annoy or nag continually

Derived Formspesterer, nounpesteringly, adverb

Word Origin for pester

C16: from Old French empestrer to hobble (a horse), from Vulgar Latin impāstōriāre (unattested) to use a hobble, from pāstōria (unattested) a hobble, from Latin pāstōrius relating to a herdsman, from pastor herdsman

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pestered

pester

1520s, "to clog, entangle, encumber," probably a shortening of Middle French empestrer "place in an embarrassing situation" (Modern French empêtrer, Walloon epasturer), from Vulgar Latin *impastoriare "to hobble" (an animal), from Latin im- "in" + Medieval Latin pastoria (chorda) "(rope) to hobble an animal," from Latin pastoria, fem. of pastorius "of a herdsman," from pastor "herdsman" (see pastor (n.)). Sense of "annoy, trouble" (1560s) is from influence of pest. Related: Pestered; pestering.