as in badgered
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Dissimilar Words
as in bothered
to thrust oneself upon (another) without invitation
one resident pestered the condo board about every little thing
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of pestered
Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 11 Feb. 2026
But with a game against powerhouse Massillon on the horizon, Mike pestered coach Gerry Rardin for weeks.
—Chad Graff, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Rori Harmon and Jordan Lee led a defense that persistently pestered Gators guard Liv McGill, who entered the game as the SEC's second-leading scorer, in a 6-for-16 shooting performance that included nine of Florida's 21 turnovers.
—Danny Davis, Austin American Statesman, 29 Jan. 2026
Charles, who is a big fan of the Ravens, pestered Kelce for much of that visit about the Chiefs’ 17-10 win in the AFC Championship Game in 2024 in Baltimore.
—Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 23 Sep. 2025
Williams missed four games last year from a hamstring strain that pestered him throughout the season.
—Adam Grosbard, Oc Register, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
My own parents met coming out of a movie theater in New Britain when my less than suave Coast Guard father pestered my mother for a date.
—Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 11 Feb. 2026
But with a game against powerhouse Massillon on the horizon, Mike pestered coach Gerry Rardin for weeks.
—Chad Graff, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Rori Harmon and Jordan Lee led a defense that persistently pestered Gators guard Liv McGill, who entered the game as the SEC's second-leading scorer, in a 6-for-16 shooting performance that included nine of Florida's 21 turnovers.
—Danny Davis, Austin American Statesman, 29 Jan. 2026
Charles, who is a big fan of the Ravens, pestered Kelce for much of that visit about the Chiefs’ 17-10 win in the AFC Championship Game in 2024 in Baltimore.
—Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 23 Sep. 2025
Williams missed four games last year from a hamstring strain that pestered him throughout the season.
—Adam Grosbard, Oc Register, 5 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pestered
Verb
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But in securing gold, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara from Japan didn’t seem to be bothered by any of that.—
Alice Park,
Time,
17 Feb. 2026
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The American government never even bothered to tell their family members.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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When teachers became the complaint Several cases described teachers discussing their own political views on the latest Israel-Hamas war in ways that state investigators said foreseeably made Jewish students feel uncomfortable, harassed or targeted.—
Molly Gibbs,
Mercury News,
12 Jan. 2026
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The Broncos beat up, bruised, harassed and downright punished Herbert from the start.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Hard-liners may have worried that a deal would change the balance of factional forces inside the regime, and so sought to shore up their internal position by arresting their rivals.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
20 Feb. 2026
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Bretherton, worried that these equations will never fully capture clouds’ behavior, is developing new AI tools that can predict the future directly from real-world data, barely relying on physics equations at all.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In the statement, the zoo said the mother may have thought her baby was annoyed with Punch, which upset her.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
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Dominic Solanke was adjudged to have made a fair challenge on City defender Marc Guehi in the act of scoring Tottenham’s first goal, something that annoyed manager Pep Guardiola and his players.—
Sam Lee,
New York Times,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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But some may feel frustrated not to have more closure over what happened to one major character, who literally goes missing, launching a manhunt, around two-thirds into the film.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Feb. 2026
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Other polling indicates that Democrats are deeply frustrated with their party.—
Linley Sanders,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Fennell cast Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie plays Cathy in this tale of childhood friends turned tortured lovers, kept apart by heartbreaking misunderstandings and their own destructive decisions.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2026
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The show, which was previously called Maud and has rolled cameras in London, is based on the short story collections by Swedish writer Helene Tursten and follows Maud Oldcastle, an old killer with a tortured past.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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In Network, as a harried TV executive, Duvall is similarly roaring, spitting some great Paddy Chayefsky soliloquies with relish.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
16 Feb. 2026
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O’Hara found her highest-profile role in Home Alone (1990), as a harried suburban mom who accidentally abandons her 8-year-old son.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Projects will be judged on several criteria, including the project’s creativity and the use of tested and accurate AI.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Every batch of ice cream, even those with tested and confirmed recipes, requires a lot of tasting and adjusting.—
Maggie Hiufu Wong,
CNN Money,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pestered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pestered. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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