harassing 1 of 2

adjective

1
as in frightening

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words
2
as in annoying

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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
Then Clark put on a dribbling clinic, made nifty pass after nifty pass and became both a harassing presence on defense and the Fever's emotional leader during a 20-6 second-quarter run. — ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026 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
Paulina asks Nana, harassing her over eating porridge instead of an apple at lunch. — Kristian Monroe, NPR, 10 Nov. 2026 The post also addresses recent reports about a woman named Szilvia Berki, who in October 2015 is said to have received an injunction from Brand and Goldsmith that banned Berki from harassing them. — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2026 In her post, Goldsmith accused Berki of harassing her as tabloids picked up what Goldsmith believes was a fake story. — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 10 Nov. 2026 However, Fox’s family didn’t feel satisfied with the way that FedEx handled Fox’s complaints to HR about her colleagues harassing her and filed a lawsuit against the company. — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2026 As the divide between union members and Medieval Times loyalists deepened, anonymous troll accounts surfaced and began posting content harassing those on the picket line. — Alessandra Schade, Vanity Fair, 28 Oct. 2026 Kirkpatrick was arrested Friday on charges related to allegedly harassing and doxxing the University of Alabama police officer who arrested him in 2025. — Ryan Canfield Outkick, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2026 Leaders at a high school in Colorado accused of racially harassing students at sports games sent an e-mail to families on Monday about the investigation. — Christa Swanson, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026 Instagram, also owned by Meta, has cracked down on harassing videos filmed with smart glasses. — Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harassing
  1. frightening
  2. annoying
  3. killing
  4. persecutory
  5. pestiferous
  6. wearing
  7. chilling
  8. inquisitive
Adjective
  • The frightening part is that almost anyone can end up on the wrong side of these systems.
    — Edward Longe, Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Sussman remembers the 1999 Glastonbury Festival as both frightening and unforgettable.
    — Maribeth Romslo, Rolling Stone, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of frightening
Adjective
  • That means lagless, stutter-free gameplay that all but eliminates annoying screen tearing.
    — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Only Brady, Carer, Lewis, and Thien An, an unlikely coalition, vote for Eric, with the rest deciding that Brady, whose strength carried them through the tribe challenges, was just too volatile and annoying to take any further in the game.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of annoying
Verb
  • Bohdan Stashynsky, a KGB agent, has confessed to killing Stepan Bandera, a controversial far-right Ukrainian politician.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 7 Nov. 2026
  • As the community mourns a Lakewood police agent killed in the line of duty, CBS Colorado is learning more about the suspect accused of killing him and his lengthy criminal history.
    — Olivia Young, CBS News, 7 Nov. 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
  • In the photo, Ever is wearing black mascara that highlights her blue-green eyes, the spitting image of her mother’s, and glossy pink lipstick.
    — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Our short list shapes up with a 200-hp power cruiser wearing a Lotus badge, a five-cylinder Puch moped, and an eight-cylinder, 1,000cc two-stroke motorcycle.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of wearing
Adjective
  • Other chilling video clips taken from the scene show a black sedan racing through the square.
    — Shayna Jacobs, NBC news, 7 Nov. 2026
  • For the girl’s father, the unwavering stare was a chilling departure from the last time the two men crossed paths.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of chilling
Adjective
  • He’ll be assisted by his pal, the somewhat more purposeful Lietenant Sam Weinberg (Nick Blaemire) and the passionately inquisitive internal affairs officer Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway (Rodriguez).
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2026
  • In the first, a best-selling mystery author dies, and Benoit Blanc, a charismatic and inquisitive private eye played by Daniel Craig, must investigate.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of inquisitive

Browse Nearby Words

harasses
harassing
harassment
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Harassing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harassing. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gauntlet

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All