Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense pesters, present participle pestering, past tense, past participle pestered
verb
If you say that someone is pestering you, you mean that they keep asking you to do something, or keep talking to you, and you find this annoying.
[disapproval]
I thought she'd stop pestering me, but it only seemed to make her worse. [VERB noun]
I know he gets fed up with people pestering him for money. [VERB noun preposition]
...that creep who's been pestering you to go out with him. [VERB noun to-infinitive]
[Also VERB]
Synonyms: annoy, worry, bother, disturb More Synonyms of pester
pester in British English
(ˈpɛstə)
verb
(transitive)
to annoy or nag continually
Derived forms
pesterer (ˈpesterer)
noun
pesteringly (ˈpesteringly)
adverb
Word origin
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
pester in American English
(ˈpɛstər)
verb transitive
1.
to annoy constantly or repeatedly with petty irritations; bother; vex
2. Obsolete
to overcrowd; cram
Derived forms
pesterer (ˈpesterer)
noun
Word origin
< obs. impester < OFr empestrer, orig., to hobble a horse at pasture, entangle < VL *impastoriare < L in-, in-1 + VL *pastoria, shackle (see pastern): meaning infl. by pest
Examples of 'pester' in a sentence
pester
She pestered her parents for acting lessons and got in on a scholarship.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
We found email addresses for potential managers and agents and just pestered people.
The Sun (2012)
Stop pestering her or it could feel like harassment.
The Sun (2014)
Her mother is pestering me and constantly rings and texts.
The Sun (2014)
So stop pestering us for details.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Instead, they want her to stop pestering them so frequently.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
So many parents are pestered and run out of patience and then they give in because the last thing they want is a row.
The Sun (2011)
I think they caved in just to stop her pestering them.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
People feel pestered in nightclubs.
The Sun (2014)
A You say your mum paid the money just to get the salesman to stop pestering her.
The Sun (2012)
I remember being huddled on the dark sands, pestering my parents for a ride on the donkeys.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The company has continually pestered me to insure with it after I had a quotation some years ago.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
And stop pestering me, Anna.
Paige, Frances The Glasgow Girls (1994)
A FIRM that offered to block nuisance phone calls has been fined for pestering people itself.
The Sun (2015)
She went on and on about it so in the end I entered a competition in a magazine, just to stop her pestering me.
The Sun (2012)
In other languages
pester
British English: pester /ˈpɛstə/ VERB
If you say that someone is pestering you, you mean that they keep asking you to do something, or keep talking to you, and you find this annoying.
He is fed up with people pestering him for money.
American English: pester
Arabic: يُضَايِقُ
Brazilian Portuguese: incomodar
Chinese: 纠缠
Croatian: gnjaviti
Czech: obtěžovat
Danish: plage
Dutch: lastig vallen
European Spanish: dar la lata
Finnish: vaivata
French: tourmenter
German: belästigen
Greek: παρενοχλώ
Italian: seccare
Japanese: 悩ませる
Korean: 괴롭히다
Norwegian: plage
Polish: gnębić
European Portuguese: incomodar
Romanian: a sâcâi
Russian: докучать
Latin American Spanish: molestar
Swedish: besvära
Thai: รบกวน
Turkish: rahatsız etmek
Ukrainian: набридати
Vietnamese: quấy rầy
Chinese translation of 'pester'
pester
(ˈpɛstəʳ)
vt
烦(煩)扰(擾) (fánrǎo)
to pester sb for sth缠(纏)着(著)某人要某物 (chánzhe mǒurén yào mǒuwù)
to pester sb to do sth缠(纏)住某人做某事 (chánzhù mǒurén zuò mǒushì)
(verb)
Definition
to annoy or nag continually
He's always hanging round and pestering me.
Synonyms
annoy
Try making a note of the things that annoy you.
worry
‘Why didn't you tell us?’ – ‘Didn't want to worry you.’
bother
I don't know why he bothers me with this kind of rubbish.
disturb
I didn't want to disturb you.
bug (informal)
I only did it to bug my parents.
plague
I'm not going to plague you with a lot of questions.
torment
My older brother used to torment me by singing it to me.
get at
harass
a celebrity routinely harassed by the paparazzi
nag
The more Sarah nagged her, the more stubborn Cissie became.
hassle (informal)
The children started hassling me as soon as I sat down.
harry
He would exploit and harry his workers.
aggravate (informal)
What aggravates you most about this country?
fret
The quickening of time frets me.
badger
She badgered her doctor time and again, pleading with him.
pick on
irk
The rehearsal process irked him increasingly.
bedevil
His career was bedevilled by injury.
chivvy (British)
She was very assertive, endlessly chivvying her staff to work harder.
get on your nerves (informal)
bend someone's ear (informal)
He was fed up with people bending his ear about staying on at school.
drive you up the wall (slang)
be on your back (slang)
get in your hair (informal)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of aggravate
Definition
to annoy
What aggravates you most about this country?
Synonyms
annoy,
bother,
provoke,
needle (informal),
irritate,
tease,
hassle (informal),
gall,
exasperate,
nettle,
pester,
vex,
irk,
get under your skin (informal),
get on your nerves (informal),
nark (British, Australian, New Zealand, slang),
get up your nose (informal),
be on your back (slang),
piss you off (taboo, slang),
rub (someone) up the wrong way (informal),
get in your hair (informal),
get on your wick (British, slang),
hack you off (informal)
in the sense of badger
Definition
to pester or harass
She badgered her doctor time and again, pleading with him.
Synonyms
pester,
worry,
harry,
bother,
bug (informal),
bully,
plague,
hound,
get at,
harass,
nag,
hassle (informal),
chivvy,
importune (formal),
bend someone's ear (informal),
be on someone's back (slang)
in the sense of bedevil
Definition
to harass or torment
His career was bedevilled by injury.
Synonyms
plague,
worry,
trouble,
frustrate,
torture,
irritate,
torment,
harass,
hassle (informal),
aggravate (informal),
afflict,
pester,
vex,
irk,
give someone grief (British, South Africa)
Synonyms of 'pester'
pester
Explore 'pester' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of bend someone's ear
He was fed up with people bending his ear about staying on at school.
Synonyms
nag,
annoy,
harass,
hassle (informal),
badger (slang),
pester
in the sense of bother
Definition
to trouble (a person) by repeatedly disturbing
I don't know why he bothers me with this kind of rubbish.
Synonyms
pester,
plague,
irritate,
put out,
harass,
nag,
hassle (informal),
inconvenience,
molest,
breathe down someone's neck,
get on your nerves (informal),
nark (British, Australian, New Zealand, slang),
bend someone's ear (informal),
give someone grief (British, South Africa),
get on your wick (British, slang)
in the sense of bug
Definition
to irritate or upset (someone)
I only did it to bug my parents.
Synonyms
annoy,
bother,
disturb,
needle (informal),
plague,
irritate,
harass,
hassle (informal),
aggravate (informal),
badger,
gall,
nettle,
pester,
vex,
irk,
get under your skin (informal),
get on your nerves (informal),
nark (British, Australian, New Zealand, slang),
get up your nose (informal),
be on your back (slang),
piss you off (taboo, slang),
get in your hair (informal),
get on your wick (British, slang),
hack you off (informal)
in the sense of chivvy
Definition
to harass or nag
She was very assertive, endlessly chivvying her staff to work harder.
Synonyms
nag,
annoy,
plague,
hound,
torment,
harass,
hassle (informal),
prod,
badger,
pester,
breathe down someone's neck (informal),
pressure (informal),
bug (informal),
bend someone's ear (informal)
in the sense of disturb
Definition
to inconvenience
I didn't want to disturb you.
Synonyms
interrupt,
trouble,
bother,
startle,
plague,
disrupt,
put out,
interfere with,
rouse,
hassle,
inconvenience,
pester,
intrude on,
butt in on
in the sense of fret
Definition
to feel or give annoyance
The quickening of time frets me.
Synonyms
annoy,
trouble,
bother,
disturb,
distress,
provoke,
irritate,
grieve,
torment,
harass,
nag,
gall,
agitate,
ruffle,
nettle,
vex,
goad,
chagrin,
irk,
rile,
pique,
peeve (informal),
rankle with
in the sense of harass
Definition
to trouble or annoy (someone) by repeated attacks, questions, or problems
a celebrity routinely harassed by the paparazzi
Synonyms
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 (British),
give someone grief (British, South Africa),
be on your back (slang),
beleaguer
in the sense of harry
Definition
to keep asking (someone) to do something
He would exploit and harry his workers.
Synonyms
pester,
trouble,
bother,
disturb,
worry,
annoy,
plague,
tease,
torment,
harass,
hassle (informal),
badger,
persecute,
molest,
vex,
bedevil,
breathe down someone's neck,
chivvy (British),
give someone grief (British, South Africa),
be on your back (slang),
get in your hair (informal)
in the sense of hassle
Definition
to cause annoyance or trouble to (someone)
The children started hassling me as soon as I sat down.
Synonyms
bother,
bug (informal),
annoy,
harry,
hound,
harass,
badger,
pester,
get on your nerves (informal),
be on your back (slang),
get in your hair (informal),
breath down someone's neck
in the sense of irk
Definition
to irritate or vex
The rehearsal process irked him increasingly.
Synonyms
irritate,
annoy,
aggravate (informal),
provoke,
bug (informal),
put out (informal),
gall,
ruffle,
nettle,
vex,
rile,
peeve (informal),
get on your nerves (informal),
nark (British, Australian, New Zealand, slang),
miff (informal),
be on your back (slang),
piss you off (taboo, slang),
get in your hair (informal),
rub you up the wrong way (informal),
put your nose out of joint (informal),
get your back up,
put your back up,
hack you off (informal)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of nag
Definition
to scold or find fault constantly
The more Sarah nagged her, the more stubborn Cissie became.
Synonyms
scold,
harass,
badger,
pester,
worry,
harry,
plague,
hassle (informal),
vex,
berate,
breathe down someone's neck,
upbraid,
chivvy (British),
bend someone's ear (informal),
be on your back (slang),
henpeck
in the sense of plague
Definition
to annoy or pester
I'm not going to plague you with a lot of questions.
Synonyms
pester,
trouble,
bother,
disturb,
annoy,
tease,
harry,
harass,
hassle,
fret,
badger,
persecute,
molest,
vex,
bedevil,
get on your nerves (informal),
give someone grief (British, South Africa),
be on your back (slang),
get in your hair (informal)
in the sense of torment
Definition
to tease or pester (a person or animal) in an annoying or cruel way
My older brother used to torment me by singing it to me.
Synonyms
tease,
annoy,
worry,
trouble,
bother,
provoke,
devil (informal),
harry,
plague,
irritate,
hound,
harass,
hassle (informal),
aggravate (informal),
persecute,
pester,
vex,
bedevil,
chivvy (British),
give someone grief (British, South Africa),
lead someone a merry dance (British, informal)
in the sense of worry
Definition
to annoy or bother
‘Why didn't you tell us?’ – ‘Didn't want to worry you.’