as in harassers
a person who causes repeated emotional pain, distress, or annoyance to another
avoided the hecklers who hung out on the street corner making threatening remarks to passersby
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hecklers
Along with Al Raby, head of the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, Jackson helped select Marquette Park as the target for a 1966 fair housing march, at which racist white hecklers infamously threw rocks, bricks and bottles and hit King in the head.
—
David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb. 2026
Nanjiani, 44, became famous for stand-up comedy based on his real-life experiences, including growing up in Pakistan, moving to Iowa for college at 18, and dealing with racist hecklers as a Muslim post-9/11.
—Kylie Gilbert, InStyle, 6 Jan. 2026
That tone set the stage for the hecklers.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 21 Dec. 2025
While addressing Oakland City Council President Kevin Jenkins, Houston was interrupted by hecklers in the crowd.
—Katie Nielsen, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2025
Every comedian has to contend with hecklers — and Adam Sandler still remembers a particularly strange jeer from his teenage stand-up days.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Nov. 2025
Video clips shared on social media show Montgomery responding to hecklers before leaving the stage early.
—Julianna Duennes Russ, Austin American Statesman, 12 Nov. 2025
Bostwick's character is famously called an a**hole by the film's hecklers.
—Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean, 23 Oct. 2025
Footage widely circulated showed the two hecklers escorted away by security.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb. 2026
Nanjiani, 44, became famous for stand-up comedy based on his real-life experiences, including growing up in Pakistan, moving to Iowa for college at 18, and dealing with racist hecklers as a Muslim post-9/11.
—Kylie Gilbert, InStyle, 6 Jan. 2026
That tone set the stage for the hecklers.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 21 Dec. 2025
While addressing Oakland City Council President Kevin Jenkins, Houston was interrupted by hecklers in the crowd.
—Katie Nielsen, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2025
Every comedian has to contend with hecklers — and Adam Sandler still remembers a particularly strange jeer from his teenage stand-up days.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Nov. 2025
Video clips shared on social media show Montgomery responding to hecklers before leaving the stage early.
—Julianna Duennes Russ, Austin American Statesman, 12 Nov. 2025
Bostwick's character is famously called an a**hole by the film's hecklers.
—Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean, 23 Oct. 2025
Footage widely circulated showed the two hecklers escorted away by security.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hecklers
Noun
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Moreover, when harassers disproportionately target women, people of color and LGBTQ officials, entire communities are systematically excluded from participation in self-governance.—
Ernestine Nettles,
Mercury News,
22 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Rashada’s recruitment played out in cryptic Twitter teases from a booster, Hugh Hathcock, and behind the scenes in text messages with eyeball emojis.—
Matt Baker,
New York Times,
19 Feb. 2026
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As winter lingers and spring teases, Stewart reveals how home gardeners can make the most of this in-between moment.—
Maddie Topliff,
Better Homes & Gardens,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The prisoners got out and the saw the torturers.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Jan. 2026
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As my experience showed, a heavy reliance on physical abuse makes for proficient torturers, not skilled interrogators.—
Elizabeth Tsurkov,
The Atlantic,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
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If the tormenters keep it up, grackles do eventually move.—
Michael Barnes,
Austin American Statesman,
18 Feb. 2026
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And her tormentors are all abruptly, painfully departing the scene or, at the very least, becoming ensnared in one humiliation after another.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
16 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Perry opened the door to Figueroa's van, while the other two attackers opened the front and rear passenger side doors, prosecutors said.—
Shardaa Gray,
CBS News,
25 Feb. 2026
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Ten years after a woman was raped by two men in Tamarac, DNA evidence has led to the arrest of one of her attackers, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.—
Sofia Saric,
Miami Herald,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hecklers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hecklers. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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