harry

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb harry contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of harry are annoy, harass, pester, plague, tease, and worry. While all these words mean "to disturb or irritate by persistent acts," harry may imply heavy oppression or maltreatment.

the strikers had been harried by thugs

When can annoy be used instead of harry?

The words annoy and harry are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, annoy implies disturbing one's composure or peace of mind by intrusion, interference, or petty attacks.

you're doing that just to annoy me

Where would harass be a reasonable alternative to harry?

While the synonyms harass and harry are close in meaning, harass implies petty persecutions or burdensome demands that exhaust one's nervous or mental power.

harassed on all sides by creditors

When might pester be a better fit than harry?

The words pester and harry can be used in similar contexts, but pester stresses the repetition of petty attacks.

constantly pestered with trivial complaints

When would plague be a good substitute for harry?

The synonyms plague and harry are sometimes interchangeable, but plague implies a painful and persistent affliction.

plagued all her life by poverty

When is it sensible to use tease instead of harry?

While in some cases nearly identical to harry, tease suggests an attempt to break down one's resistance or rouse to wrath.

children teased the dog

In what contexts can worry take the place of harry?

The meanings of worry and harry largely overlap; however, worry implies an incessant goading or attacking that drives one to desperation.

pursued a policy of worrying the enemy

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 harry For newbies: Orphaned after the death of their parents, 6-year-old Lilo (Maia Kealoha), ostracized at school, is being raised by her devoted but harried teenage sister Nani (Sydney Agudong), nearing the age of adult guardianship. Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 21 May 2025 These broken objects, and others like them, feed into my general sense of being harried, overburdened, and middle-aged. Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 6 May 2025 Bullets, bombs and electronic warfare harry both man and machine. Colin Demarest, Axios, 5 Mar. 2025 Here’s how the individual snaps were divided: Quarterback: Brock Purdy 59, Joshua Dobbs 5 One of the pregame storylines was how harried Purdy might be behind a makeshift offensive line. Matt Barrows, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for harry
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harry
Verb
  • Quarterback Jayden Maiava passed for 412 yards behind the offensive line’s play and was not sacked for the second straight game.
    Haley Sawyer, Oc Register, 10 Sep. 2025
  • The 76-year-old power-broker is experiencing a period of political reckoning after his daughter and protégé Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sacked as prime minister by a court on August 29 - the sixth premier from or backed by the Shinawatra family to be removed by the judiciary or military.
    Panarat Thepgumpanat, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In a statement to PEOPLE, Richards’ divorce attorney Brett Berman denied the allegations and accused Phypers of abusing and harassing the actress.
    Stephanie Wenger, PEOPLE, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Some would argue that there are plenty of other reasons to think that harassing an animal is wrong.
    Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The towns of Harrisonville, Butler and Osceola were plundered during Bleeding Kansas.
    Quentin Corpuel, Kansas City Star, 6 Sep. 2025
  • These will hold a particular interest for the Bloomsbury enthusiast because the majority of them are previously unpublished (an impressive feat, given how often the various archives have been plundered by other biographers).
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In Part 2, viewers see Morticia scold her children for lying to her, yet Morticia is keeping secrets from Wednesday about her past and family.
    Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Family matriarch Donna Adelson was scolded by a judge Thursday for weeping in the courtroom after being convicted of orchestrating a 2014 murder-for-hire plot of her former son-in-law, a prominent Florida State University law professor.
    Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In another recent Italian discovery, archaeologists found an Etruscan tomb around 30 miles north of Rome – an unusual find that hadn't been looted.
    Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Their neighbor, an older Jewish woman, gets arrested and Nazi thugs brazenly loot her apartment.
    Rabih Alameddine September 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Not bad for a film that critics savaged.
    David Bloom, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
  • Somewhere in the not-too-distant future, two young friends — or perhaps cuddle buddies or lovers — accomplish missions throughout an underground metropolis savaged by capitalism to make ever-elusive rent, while facing flaky clients, bandits and low credit scores.
    H. Jiahong Pan, Twin Cities, 1 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Acosta allowed it, and IMG destroyed them.
    Alec Lewis, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Later, Howard calls Matt and agrees to cut the sequence but also threatens to destroy him.
    Carson Blackwelder, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In southern Gaza, the Abu Shabab militia is widely reviled, and Abu Shabab’s own family has disassociated itself from him and called for his death.
    Leila Seurat, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2025
  • The moral firewall around Kennedy is illustrated by the case of glyphosate, an herbicide so singularly reviled by MAHA that, on social media, Ryerson goes by the Glyphosate Girl.
    Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Harry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harry. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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