verb
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to disturb or annoy by malevolent interference
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to accost or attack, esp with the intention of assaulting sexually
Related Words
See attack.
Other Word Forms
- molestation noun
- molester noun
- molestful adjective
- unmolested adjective
- unmolesting adjective
Etymology
Origin of molest
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English molesten, from Latin molestāre “to irk,” derivative of molestus “irksome”; compare mōlēs “mass, burden, trouble”
Explanation
To molest someone is to annoy or attack them. Although the word was first used to mean "pester," now it is more typically used to refer to criminal abuse. The verb molest can be used to talk about any kind of persistent harassment, but it most commonly describes an unwanted or aggressive sexual attack. To molest someone in this in way is a very serious criminal assault. The word originally meant simply "to cause trouble or grief," and it comes from the Latin word molestare, "to disturb, trouble, or annoy." It wasn't used to mean "attack sexually" until about 1950.
Vocabulary lists containing molest
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.
The city is a bird sanctuary and its code says it is illegal to hunt, wound, molest, injure or kill any bird within its limits.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 10, 2021
The Emporia Gazette reports defense attorney Christopher Joseph said Hawkins was sloppy and should have better explained his procedures to the women but he didn’t molest them.
From Washington Times • Aug. 23, 2019
Around 1993, James and Wade told the authorities that Jackson didn’t molest them; and Wade testified in court on Jackson’s behalf in 2005.
From New York Times • Feb. 28, 2019
Evanier makes a strong case that Allen didn’t molest his daughter — he was never prosecuted — but also undermines it somewhat by approaching the topic with an obvious bias against Mia Farrow.
From Washington Post • Dec. 11, 2015
“A big brute like this, he’s worth three times as much. What a bodyguard he will make! No enemy will dare molest you!”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
