hector
Syllables: hec·torUK/ˈhɛktə//ˈhɛktɚ/
hector noun: sometimes in the form Hector: a blustering, noisy, turbulent fellow; a braggart, bully.
Noun
hector (plural hectors)
- Sometimes in the form Hector: a blustering, noisy, turbulent fellow; a braggart, bully.
- Luc[ia]. VVhat would you do you dowty Hectors? / Kick. Hectors! upon my honour, if we can find them out, we'll beat your Gallants for this. / […] Luc. Advant, you Hectors, we are not fit for you: […]1672, Tho[mas] Shadwell, Epsom-Wells. A Comedy, Acted at the Duke’s Theatre, London: Printed for R. VVellington […], published 1704, →OCLC, act I, scene i, page 8
Verb
hector (third-person singular simple present hectors, present participle hectoring, simple past and past participle hectored)
- To dominate or intimidate in a blustering way; to bully, to domineer.
- Theſe Nimrods (ſay they) grew great by the Strength of their Limbs and their Vices, engraved their Murthers upon their Shields, and Hectored all the Little and Peaceable People into Peaſantry.1700, Jeremy Collier, “A Second Conference between Philotimus and Philalethes”, in Essays upon Several Moral Subjects, in Two Parts. […], 4th edition, London: Printed for Richard Sare […], and H....
- It was a common thing for an honeſt Man, when he came Home at Night, to find another Fellow domineering in his Family, hectoring his Servants, calling for Supper, and pretending to go to Bed with his Wife.1712, [John Arbuthnot], “Of Some Quarrels that Happen’d after Peg was Taken into the Family”, in John Bull Still in His Senses: Being the Third Part of Law is a Bottomless-pit. […], London: Printed...
- To behave like a hector or bully; to bluster, to swagger; to bully.
- […] I was ſent for by the marſhall, huffed and hectored ſtrangely, thretned, &c., in fine, muſte give bonds to the good behaviour; I refuſed, […]1684 February 4, William Vaughan, “[Appendix.] XXXI. A Letter from William Vaughan, Esq. Containing a Journal of Transactions during His Imprisonment, &c. to Nathaniel Weare, Esq. Agent in London.”...
- Leave me alone! Will you leave me alone! Hectored by women all my life—hectored by women—first one, then another. I won't stand it—I won't stand it—1920, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Alvina Becomes Allaye”, in The Lost Girl, London: Martin Secker […], →OCLC, page 190
- Synonyms:
- huff, huff and puff
Proper noun capitalized: Hector
Hector
- A Trojan hero in Homer's Iliad.
- A male given name from Ancient Greek.
- A town in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia.
- A settlement in the West Coast region, New Zealand.
- A town in Pope County, Arkansas.
- A locality in Clay County, Kentucky.
- A city in Renville County, Minnesota.
- A town in Schuyler County, New York, named after Hector Ely.
- An unincorporated community in Putnam County, Ohio, named after Hector Havemeyer.
- A township in Potter County, Pennsylvania.
- A thundercloud cluster that forms nearly every afternoon from approximately September to March near the Tiwi Islands of Australia, reaching a height and width of 20 kilometers.
hector meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
hector in Hindi
- हेक्टर
hector in Tamil
- பகட்டு, அதட்டு, தற்புகழ்ச்சியாளர்
hector in Marathi
- हेक्टर, हेक्टरला
hector in Urdu
- داداگیر, ظالم, گستاخی کرنا, پریشان کرنا
More languagesFewer languages
- hector in Bengali
- হেক্টর, হেক্টরকে
- hector in Telugu
- హెక్టర్, హెక్టార్
- hector in Malayalam
- വിരട്ടുക, വിരട്ടി ഭയപ്പെടുത്താൻ ശ്രമിക്കുക, മെക്കിട്ടുകയറുക, ഉപദ്രവിക്കുക
- hector in Kannada
- ಉದ್ಧಟ, ಜಂಬಗಾರ, ಅಹಂಕಾರಿ, ಅಬ್ಬರಿಸುವವನು
- hector in Punjabi
- ਹੈਕਟਰ
- hector in Gujarati
- હેક્ટર, હેકટર
- hector in Odia
- ହେକ୍ଟର୍
- hector in Nepali
- हेक्टर, हेक्टरलाई
- hector in Thai
- จิก jìk
Examples of hector in a sentence
- Flynn, violated Section 8(a)(1) of the Act by hectoring employees for seeking union representation.1973, Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board (Law Books Recommended for Libraries, Labor Law; 134), volume 196...
- You're no longer a part of my life [...] so I don't understand why you're hectoring me about this.2011, Peter Gould & Gennifer Hutchison, “Salud”, in Breaking Bad, season 4, episode 10 (television production), spoken by Ted Beneke...
- I will stick by my judgment, and I will not be lectured or hectored by the hon.2000 November 7, Eric Forth, “Business of the House”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Commons Official Report, volume 141...
Synonyms of hector
Forms of hector
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | hectors |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | hectors |
| present participle | hectoring |
| past participle | hectored |
| past | hectored |
| alternative form | hectour |
| Proper noun | |
| alternative form | Hectour |
Origin of hector
From Hector (“in Greek and Roman mythology, a character in Homer’s Iliad who is the greatest warrior of Troy”), from Late Middle English Hector (“warrior with the qualities of Hector”), from Latin Hectōr or Ancient Greek Ἕκτωρ (Héktōr), from ἕκτωρ (héktōr, “holding fast”), from ἔχειν (ékhein), present active infinitive of ἔχω (ékhō, “to have, own, possess; to hold”), from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold; to overpower”). The verb is derived from the noun.
From Latin Hectōr or Ancient Greek Ἕκτωρ (Héktōr), from ἕκτωρ (héktōr, “holding fast”), from ἔχω (ékhō, “to have, hold”), from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold; to overpower”). Sometimes used as an anglicization of various Scottish Gaelic names, including Eachann and Eochaid. The thundercloud cluster was named by pilots during the Second World War.
Words formed from hector
Phrases with hector
Words that rhyme with hector
Questions about hector
- What does hector mean?
- Hector means sometimes in the form Hector: a blustering, noisy, turbulent fellow; a braggart, bully.
- What is hector in Hindi?
- Hector in Hindi is हेक्टर. See Hector meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use hector in a sentence?
- Flynn, violated Section 8(a)(1) of the Act by hectoring employees for seeking union representation.
- What part of speech is hector?
- Hector can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce hector?
- Hector is pronounced /ˈhɛktə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of hector?
- The plural of hector is hectors.
Words near hector in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hector (page history and authors); Hector (page history and authors); hector (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hector (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hector (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hector (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hector (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hector (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hector (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); hector (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hector (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hector (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hector (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hector (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: en-us-hector.ogg, en-au-hector.ogg.
Cite this entry: “hector.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hector. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.