pester

[ pes-ter ]

verb (used with object)

1. to bother persistently with petty annoyances; trouble:

   Don't pester me with your trivial problems.

   Synonyms: hector, harry, badger, plague, provoke, irritate, disturb, tease, vex, annoy

   Antonyms: entertain, delight

2. Obsolete. to overcrowd.

pester

/ ˈpɛstə /

verb

1. tr to annoy or nag continually

Derived Forms

• ˈpesterer, noun
• ˈpesteringly, adverb

Other Words From

• pester·er noun
• pester·ing·ly adverb
• pester·some adjective
• un·pestered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pester¹

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 ( pastor ); aphetic form apparently reinforced by pest ( -er ⁶ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of pester¹

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

Example Sentences

Bauer has pestered women who challenge him on Twitter, a habit made more noticeable by the fact that he has not handled male critics on the platform so pointedly.

From Washington Post

Given how quickly I was wolfing books down, I didn’t want to pester my parents to drive me there every other day.

From Nautilus

We just understood this as another tool to pester with our living situation.

From MIT Technology Review

“The question of what determines biological diversity has pestered evolutionary biologists ever since Wallace and Darwin came up with their theory of evolution,” Salzburger said.

From Quanta Magazine

This acceleration in bee-pestered plants is not entirely a surprise.

From Science News For Students

And resist the urge to probe or pester for reassuring answers.

From The Daily Beast

Do not continually pester either your companion or the conductor with questions, such as "Where are we now?"

From Project Gutenberg

Do you want me to pester every office in the government with new inquiries?

From Project Gutenberg

The Landhofmeisterin continued to pester the Duke to convey her to Frankfort.

From Project Gutenberg

"No fear, with my old woman to pester me," answered Richard, with a grim relaxing of his features.

From Project Gutenberg

The next year he became editor-in-chief to the "Pester Lloyd," raising that paper to a high level of excellence.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• annoy
• badger
• bedevil
• hassle
• hector
• hound
• irk
• nag
• tease
• torment