Dictionaries › English

harass

Pronunciation: /həˈɹæs/

The English word “harass” has 6 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.
  2. To persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period.
  3. To put excessive burdens upon (someone); to subject (someone) to anxieties.
  4. To trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks.
  5. Often followed by out: to fatigue or tire (someone) with exhausting and repeated efforts.

noun

  1. Harassment; pestering.

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle French, Old French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out; to harry, torment, vex”) (modern French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out”)), possibly from Old French harer (“to set a dog on”), from Frankish *hara (“here, hither”) (a command for a dog to attack), from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r (“here, in this place”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe…

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “harass” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.