harass
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ha·rass
(hə-răs′, hăr′əs)tr.v. ha·rassed, ha·rass·ing, ha·rass·es
1. To subject (another) to hostile or prejudicial remarks or actions; pressure or intimidate.
2. To irritate or torment persistently: His mind was harassed by doubts and misgivings.
3. To make repeated attacks or raids on (an enemy, for example).
[French harasser, from Old French (a la) harache, (a la) harace (as in courre a la harache, to chase) : hare, call used to set dogs on (of Germanic origin; see ko- in Indo-European roots) + -ache, -ace, deprecative n. suff.]
ha·rass′er n.
ha·rass′ment n.
Synonyms: harass, harry, hound, badger, pester, plague
These verbs mean to trouble persistently or incessantly. Harass and harry imply systematic persecution by besieging with repeated annoyances, threats, or demands: The landlord harassed the tenants who were behind in their rent. "John Adams and John Quincy Adams, pillars of personal rectitude, were harried throughout their presidencies by accusations of corruption, fraud, and abuses of power" (Alan Brinkley and Davis Dyer).
Hound suggests unrelenting pursuit to gain a desired end: Reporters hounded the celebrity for an interview. To badger is to nag or entreat persistently: The child badgered his parents for a new bicycle. To pester is to inflict a succession of petty annoyances: "How she would have pursued and pestered me with questions and surmises" (Charlotte Brontë).
Plague refers to a problem likened to a noxious disease: "As I have no estate, I am plagued with no tenants or stewards" (Henry Fielding).
These verbs mean to trouble persistently or incessantly. Harass and harry imply systematic persecution by besieging with repeated annoyances, threats, or demands: The landlord harassed the tenants who were behind in their rent. "John Adams and John Quincy Adams, pillars of personal rectitude, were harried throughout their presidencies by accusations of corruption, fraud, and abuses of power" (Alan Brinkley and Davis Dyer).
Hound suggests unrelenting pursuit to gain a desired end: Reporters hounded the celebrity for an interview. To badger is to nag or entreat persistently: The child badgered his parents for a new bicycle. To pester is to inflict a succession of petty annoyances: "How she would have pursued and pestered me with questions and surmises" (Charlotte Brontë).
Plague refers to a problem likened to a noxious disease: "As I have no estate, I am plagued with no tenants or stewards" (Henry Fielding).
Usage Note: The pronunciation of harass with stress on the first syllable (rhyming roughly with Paris) is the older, traditional pronunciation. The pronunciation with stress on the second syllable (rhyming roughly with surpass) is a newer pronunciation that first occurred in American English. Its use has steadily increased since the mid-1900s. In our 1987 survey, 50 percent of the Usage Panel preferred the pronunciation with stress on the first syllable, and 50 percent preferred stress on the second syllable. Fourteen years later, in our 2001 survey, preference for stress on the first syllable dropped to 30 percent while preference for stress on the second syllable rose to 70 percent. The results from our 2013 survey suggest that this trend away from the traditional pronunciation has continued: only 10 percent preferred the stress on the first syllable, whereas 90 percent preferred the pronunciation with the stress on the second syllable. In fact, in 2013, 35 percent of the Panel considered the pronunciation with the stress on the first syllable to be unacceptable. The original pronunciation has almost completely given way in only a few decades, at least in the United States.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
harass
(ˈhærəs; həˈræs)vb
(tr) to trouble, torment, or confuse by continual persistent attacks, questions, etc
[C17: from French harasser, variant of Old French harer to set a dog on, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German harēn to cry out]
ˈharassed adj
ˈharassedly adv
haˈrasser n
ˈharassing adj, n
haˈrassingly adv
ˈharassment n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ha•rass
(həˈræs, ˈhær əs)v.t.
1. to disturb persistently; torment; pester; persecute.
2. to trouble by repeated attacks, incursions, etc., as in war; raid.
[1610–20; < French, Middle French harasser to harry, harass, v. derivative of harace, harache (in phrase courre a la harace pursue) =hare cry used to urge dogs on (< Frankish *hara here, from this side; compare Old High German hera, Middle Dutch hare) + -asse augmentative or pejorative suffix < Latin -ācea]
ha•rass′er, n.
pron: harass, a 17th-century French borrowing, has traditionally been pronounced (ˈhær əs) A newer pronunciation, (həˈræs) which has developed in North American but not British English, is sometimes criticized by older educated speakers. However, it is now the more common pronunciation among younger educated U.S. speakers, some of whom have only minimal familiarity with the older form. See also exquisite.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
harass
Past participle: harassed
Gerund: harassing
| Imperative |
|---|
| harass |
| harass |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Verb | 1. |  harass - annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers"needle, goad - goad or provoke,as by constant criticism; "He needled her with his sarcastic remarks" annoy, devil, gravel, irritate, nark, rile, vex, nettle, rag, bother, chafe, get at, get to - cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations; "Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me"; "It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves" bedevil, dun, rag, torment, frustrate, crucify - treat cruelly; "The children tormented the stuttering teacher" haze - harass by imposing humiliating or painful tasks, as in military institutions |
| 2. | harass - exhaust by attacking repeatedly; "harass the enemy" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
harass
verb annoy, trouble, bother, worry, harry, disturb, devil (informal), plague, bait, hound, torment, hassle (informal), badger, persecute, exasperate, pester, vex, breathe down someone's neck, chivvy (Brit.), give someone grief (Brit. & S. African), be on your back (slang), beleaguer We are almost routinely harassed by the police.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
harass
verb1. To trouble persistently from or as if from all sides:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُضايَقيقوم بِهَجمات مُتَكَرِّرَه على العدو
napadattrápit
angribeforstyrrehærgeplage
gera tíîar skyndiárásirhrjá, angra stöîugt
iškamuotasišvargintasneduoti ramybėspuldinėjimaspuldinėti
nelikt mierānokausēttraucēt
aralıksız saldırılarla taciz etmekrahatsız etmektaciz etmek
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
harass
vt → belästigen; (= mess around) → schikanieren; (Mil) the enemy → Anschläge verüben auf (+acc), → immer wieder überfallen; don’t harass me → dräng or hetz (inf) → mich doch nicht so!; he sexually harassed her → er belästigte sie (sexuell); they eventually harassed him into resigning → sie setzten ihm so lange zu, bis er schließlich zurücktrat; the landlord was harassing me about the rent → der Hauswirt belästigte mich ständig wegen der Miete; a lot of these people are harassed by the police → viele dieser Leute werden ständig von der Polizei schikaniert; a salesman should never seem to harass a potential customer → ein Vertreter sollte einem potenziellen or potentiellen Kunden gegenüber niemals aufdringlich werden
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
harass
(ˈhӕrəs) , ((especially American) həˈras) verb1. to annoy or trouble (a person) constantly or frequently. The children have been harassing me all morning.
2. to make frequent sudden attacks on (an enemy). The army was constantly harassed by groups of terrorists.
ˈharassed adjectivea harassed mother.
ˈharassment nounHe complained of harassment by the police.
sexual harassmentsexKernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
harass
v. acosar, perturbar, hostigar, hostilizar.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012