Word.ws English Dictionary

harass

Syllables: ha·rass/həˈɹæs/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

dated/ˈhæɹəs/

harass verb: to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.

Verb

harass (third-person singular simple present harasses, present participle harassing, simple past and past participle harassed)

  1. (transitive) To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.
    • For it is a stout calf, ripe for the temples and altar [to be sacrificed], and to be sprinkled with wine; who is now ashamed to draw the dugs of his mother, and who harasseth the oaks with his budding horn.1829, Juvenal, “Satire XII”, in William Smart, transl., Juvenal and Persius, Literally Translated for the Use of Students, London: […] [Richard Gilbert] for Whittaker, Treacher, & Co. […], →OCLC...
    • In my old home, I always knew that John and my master were my friends; but here, although in many ways I was well treated, I had no friend. York might have known, and very likely did know, how that rein harassed me; but I suppose he took it as a matter of course that could not be helped; at any...[1877], Anna Sewell, “A Strike for Liberty”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, page 109
    1. (specifically, transitive) 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.
      • I am gay and have AIDS and would very much like to write to someone. It is vey lonely here and they seem to think I'm going to die soon, though I wonder if they aren't just harassing me.1990 December 9, Francis Anker, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 18
      • In February 2004, we developed a technique using compressed air to physically and audibly harass the birds. […] One person slowly (< 5 mph) drove a pick-up truck through the airport terminal at dusk while the second person sat on a bench in the truck bed and directed the compressed air from the...2005, “Compressed air, wooden clappers, and other non-traditional methods for dispersing European starlings from an urban roost.”, in The Eleventh Wildlife Damage Management Conference
  2. (transitive) To put excessive burdens upon (someone); to subject (someone) to anxieties.
    • To harass good people is no different than speaking ill of them.
    • The ſoul that dies this death, is like a loving wife matched with a rigorous huſband: ſhe does what ſhe can to pleaſe him, yet he is never pleaſed; but toſſeth, haraſſeth, and beats her, till ſhe break her heart, and death ſets her free: […]1761, Thomas Boston, “State II. Namely, the State of Nature or of Entire Depravation. Head I. The Sinfulness of Man’s Natural State. [Of the Corruption of the Will.]”, in Human Nature in Its...
  3. (transitive) To trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks.
    • But meanevvhile, to harraſſe and vvearie the Engliſh, they [the French] did vpon all aduantages ſet vpon them vvith their Light-Horſe; vvherein neuertheleſſe they receiued commonly loſſe, eſpecially by meanes of the Engliſh-Archers.1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret...
    • [T]he Britains, left to ſhift for themſelves, and daily haraſſed by cruel Inroads from the Picts, were forced to call in the Saxons for their Defence; […]1712 March 4 (date written; Gregorian calendar), J[onathan] Swift, A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue; […], 2nd edition, London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke, […]...
    Synonyms:
    harry
  4. (obsolete, transitive) Often followed by out: to fatigue or tire (someone) with exhausting and repeated efforts.
    • VVhich Troupes came to the Army but the day before, harraſed vvith a long and vveariſome march: and (as it is left for a memorable circumſtance in all Stories,) the Souldiers, being more ſenſible of a little Heat of the Sunne, than of any cold Feare of Death, caſt avvay their Armour, and Garments...a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a Warre with Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount...
    • Their Bodies harraſs, ſink 'em when they run; / And fry their melting Marrow in the Sun.1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 102, lines...

Noun

harass (plural harasses)

  1. (archaic, transitive) Harassment; pestering.
    • Mean while the men of Judah to prevent / The harraſs of thir Land, beſet me round; […]1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 22, lines...
    • Now, Belford, if ſhe be not much concerned at the broken veſſel, which, in one ſo fiery in his temper as I have the reputation to be thought, may be very dangerous; a malady that I ſhall calmly attribute to the haraſſes and doubts, that I have laboured under for ſome time paſt; which will be a...1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXIV. Mr. Lovelace, to John Belford, Esq”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John...

harass meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

harass in Tamil

அலைக் கழி, அலைக்கழி, தொல்லை கொடு

harass in Marathi

to harass, trouble, annoy
सतावणे satāvṇe
to harass, torment
छळणे chaḷṇe

harass in Urdu

harass, torture
اذیت پہنچانا aziyat pahoṉčānā

harass in Bengali

to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
জ্বালাতন করা jalaton kora, সাতানো satano
More languagesFewer languages
harass in Telugu
నచ్చు naccu, వేధించు vēdhiñcu
harass in Malayalam
ദ്രോഹിക്കുക drōhikkuka
harass in Kannada
ಪದೇಪದೇ ಕಿರುಕುಳ ಕೊಡು, ಪೀಡಿಸು, ಕಾಡು, ಉಪದ್ರವ ಕೊಡು
harass in Gujarati
સતામણી કરવી
harass in Sanskrit
बाधति bādhati
harass in Nepali
उत्पीडन गर्ने

Examples of harass in a sentence

  • York might have known, and very likely did know, how that rein harassed me; but I suppose he took it as a matter of course that could not be helped; at any rate nothing was done to relieve me.[1877], Anna Sewell, “A Strike for Liberty”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, page 109:
  • Scottie, a precocious 10-year old,^([sic]) wears provocatively sloganed T-shirts and harasses her peers by text message.2007 May 20, Joanna Kavenna, “While You Were Out”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2020:
  • He, who harasseth his household, shall inherit the wind; / And the fool shall be the servant of the wise in heart.1831, William French, George Skinner, transl., A New Translation of the Proverbs of Solomon from the Original Hebrew […], Cambridge...
  • I am sure I did but speak / Of my mother's faded cheek / When it slowly grew so thin, / That I felt she was slowly dying / Vext with lawyers and harass'd with debt: […]1855, Alfred Tennyson, “Maud”, in Maud, and Other Poems, new edition, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 6, →OCLC, part XIX, stanza 3...

All 40 example sentences with harass

Synonyms of harass

23 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of harass

Forms of harass

Verb
third-person singular presentharasses
present participleharassing
past participleharassed
pastharassed
Noun
pluralharasses

Past tense of harass: harassed

Origin of harass

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 (“here; this”) + *ís (“the (person or thing just named)”) + *-r. The noun is derived from the verb.

Words formed from harass

Words that rhyme with harass

39 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about harass

What does harass mean?
Harass means to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.
What is harass in Tamil?
Harass in Tamil is அலைக் கழி, அலைக்கழி, தொல்லை கொடு. See Harass meaning in Tamil.
How do you use harass in a sentence?
York might have known, and very likely did know, how that rein harassed me; but I suppose he took it as a matter of course that could not be helped; at any rate nothing was done to relieve me.
What part of speech is harass?
Harass can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce harass?
Harass is pronounced /həˈɹæs/ (UK).
What is the past tense of harass?
The past tense of harass is harassed.

Words near harass in the dictionary

  1. Harare
  2. Hararese
  3. Harari
  4. Hararis
  5. haras
  6. harass
  7. harassable
  8. harassed
  9. harassedly
  10. harassee
  11. harassees

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: harass (page history and authors); harass (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); छळणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); اذیت پہنچانا (Urdu) (page history and authors); నచ్చు (Telugu) (page history and authors); ദ്രോഹിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); harass (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); harass (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harass (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-harass.wav.

Cite this entry: “harass.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/harass. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.