heckle
Syllables: heck·le/ˈhɛkəl/
heckle verb: to question harshly in an attempt to find or reveal weaknesses. Also the alternative form of hackle.
Verb
heckle (third-person singular simple present heckles, present participle heckling, simple past and past participle heckled)
- To question harshly in an attempt to find or reveal weaknesses.
- Synonyms:
- grill, interrogate
- To insult, tease, make fun of or badger, especially during a comedy performance.
- Promise that you won't heckle me after my performance.
- As late as 1854, the antichoir members of an Ohio Methodist congregation heckled the choir whenever it tried to sing, hoping to "bring discredit on the singers by creating discord."2008, BYU Studies, volume 47, page 108
- Synonyms:
- barrack
- To prepare (flax) for spinning, using special combs called hackles.
- Synonyms:
- hackle
Noun
heckle (plural heckles)
- The long shining feathers on a cock's neck.
- A feather ornament in the full-dress bonnets of Highland regiments.
- An rude interruption during a show, especially a comedy performance
- The stand-up dealt well with the heckles from the crowd, replying with raucous banter to raise plenty of laughs.
Also used as
heckle is also the alternative form of hackle.
Examples of heckle in a sentence
- The speaker was heckled and shouted down.
- Each bay has lounge-type furniture or high-top tables where groups can cheer – or heckle – the other Players.
- Some people stopped concentrating on the piece altogether, some started barracking and heckling, while others began chatting to one another.
Synonyms of heckle
Antonyms
Forms of heckle
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | heckles |
| present participle | heckling |
| past participle | heckled |
| past | heckled |
| Noun | |
| plural | heckles |
Origin of heckle
Transferred usage of Middle English hekelen (“to comb flax or hemp with a heckle”), from hekele (“a comb for flax or hemp”), from Middle Dutch hekelen (“to prickle, irritate”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakilōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakilōną, related to *hakô (“hook”). Doublet of hatchel. Related to hackle.
Words that rhyme with heckle
Questions about heckle
- What does heckle mean?
- Heckle means to question harshly in an attempt to find or reveal weaknesses.
- What part of speech is heckle?
- Heckle can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce heckle?
- Heckle is pronounced /ˈhɛkəl/.
- What is the past tense of heckle?
- The past tense of heckle is heckled.
Words near heckle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: heckle (page history and authors). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-heckle.wav.
Cite this entry: “heckle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/heckle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.