Link Centre Dictionary

pester

pes·ter

UK/ˈpɛstə(ɹ)/ US/ˈpɛstɚ/ uncommon obsolete

verb

1.

annoy persistently

  • “The children teased the boy because of his stammer”
Synonyms

Origin

In the senses of “overcrowd (a place)” and “impede (a person)”: from Middle French and Old French empestrer (“encumber”), influenced by English pest. The modern sense is an extension of the sense “infest”. Comparable to English construction pest + -er (used to form frequentative verbs).

Phrases

  • pester power
  • pick on

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.