harassing 1 of 2

adjective

1
as in frightening

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2
as in annoying

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harassing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of harass
as in killing
to use up all the physical energy of had been visibly harassed by the demands of the presidency

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of harassing
Adjective
The first complaint, in which a clerk made similar accusations of abusive and harassing conduct, was filed with the circuit court in 2022, not long after Merriam’s appointment. — Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 1 Jan. 2026 The line is crossed when someone’s conduct at work becomes disrespectful, harassing, intimidating, discriminatory, or disruptive to the team. — Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025
Verb
Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia all condemned Iran for harassing their ships. — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 8 July 2026 In June, police filed a domestic incident report in which Armel was accused of harassing his mother, cops said. — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 8 July 2026 The update comes at a time when Meta is facing criticism online regarding reported plans to add facial recognition to its glasses, as well as reports of bad actors harassing young women using its devices. — Victoria Song, The Verge, 7 July 2026 Two months later, Zaayer moved into a home across the street and continued harassing Shawna and David, as well as their other family members who lived nearby. — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026 On Tuesday night, after harassing them the night before at their team hotel, Mexico sent Ecuador packing in a Round of 32 match at Mexico City Stadium. — Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026 Smid also pressed Garcia on why, during the initial investigation, Garcia chose not to attempt to secure recordings of King’s harassing behavior. — Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 July 2026 Superior Court Judge Alex Manning issued the order June 15 prohibiting the county’s top administrator from getting close to Amit Mehrotra, a neighbor in the Ellard subdivision in Roswell, and from harassing or intimidating Mehrotra or his family. — Reed Williams, AJC.com, 1 July 2026 Lively accused Baldoni in December 2024 of harassing her on the set of It Ends With Us and subsequently plotting a smear campaign against her. — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harassing
  1. frightening
  2. annoying
  3. killing
  4. persecutory
  5. pestiferous
  6. wearing
  7. chilling
  8. inquisitive
Adjective
  • Obviously there’s day to day stuff but to me, that’s just another frightening thing about being trapped in a system.
    — Caroline Reilly, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
  • Cortlandt Koerwitz/Instagram A family's Fourth of July outing took a frightening turn when a bear charged at a father outside his Lake Tahoe vacation home after startling his daughters.
    — Shafiq Najib, ABC News, 9 July 2026
Definition of frightening
Adjective
  • This is a realm of exposition-heavy opening credits, relentlessly earwormy theme tunes, and heroes who, for no obvious reason, choose to hang out with cute/annoying [delete as appropriate] comedy sidekicks like Orko and Snarf.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 5 July 2026
  • This would have evoked annoying memories of the 0-0 draw against Morocco in 2022 and 1-1 draw with Russia in 2018 for Spain.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of annoying
Verb
  • In that case, authorities believe the mother was responsible for slaying the family and then killing herself.
    — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026
  • Critics didn’t shy away from directly accusing Starmer’s government of essentially killing pensioners.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 11 July 2026
Definition of killing
Adjective
  • For example, Americans living during World War II developed persecutory delusions involving Germans, while those living during the Cold War focused on communists.
    — Alaina Vandervoort Burns, The Conversation, 17 Dec. 2025
Definition of persecutory
Adjective
  • After the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48), the Dutch were probably eager for reminders of ordinary domestic life, even pestiferous ones, and for images of quiet and tenderness.
    — Willard Spiegelman, WSJ, 18 Aug. 2017
  • Disease relies on a variety of pestiferous vectors for the transmission of infective bacteria.
    — Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 31 May 2016
Definition of pestiferous
Verb
  • Doctors Without Borders health workers wearing personal protective equipment move through the isolated red zone to monitor patients, provide medical care and ensure sanitation at the Ebola Treatment Center in Munigi in Congo on June 2, 2026.
    — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 6 July 2026
  • Rodríguez Castro can be seen wearing a New York Yankees shirt, moving suggestively to driving percussive beats, punctuated by catchy, syncopated vocals.
    — Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Definition of wearing
Adjective
  • Made-from-scratch cheesecake doesn’t seem so hard when made as cupcakes where there’s no water bath, springform pan, and long chilling time required.
    — Brennan Long, Southern Living, 3 July 2026
  • Bell on Wednesday reaffirmed his support for Florida’s institutional neutrality policies, which discourages university leaders from taking official positions on political issues in an effort to avoid chilling debate among students and faculty.
    — Garrett Shanley, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026
Definition of chilling
Adjective
  • If American music in 1976 represented a collective, inquisitive, inventive American spirit of discovery, the semiquincentennial in the age of social media has become more about the individual identity.
    — Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • Powell was one of scores of Taylor Swift fans and inquisitive passersby who braved the New York City heat Thursday to satiate their curiosity about what many are calling the wedding of the century and the American equivalent of royal nuptials.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 July 2026
Definition of inquisitive

Browse Nearby Words

harasses
harassing
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Cite this Entry

“Harassing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harassing. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of harassing for Spanish Speakers

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