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pestered 1 of 2

adjective

as in badgered

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pestered

2 of 2

verb

past tense of pester
as in bothered
to thrust oneself upon (another) without invitation one resident pestered the condo board about every little thing

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 pestered
Verb
Llínas and his wife, actress Laura Peredas, circle a neighborhood in vain looking for a statue while being pestered by their children. — Sam Bodrojan, IndieWire, 17 Sep. 2026 Bowers was unable to see his rookie-year production in 2025 due to his PCL sprain and bone bruiser that pestered him since Week 1’s victory over the New England Patriots. — Scott Thompson Outkick, FOXNews.com, 9 Sep. 2026 Money is tight, the wheat harvest yields less money, and Sayed is being pestered by an outsider to sell his fields. — Jay Weissberg, Variety, 4 Sep. 2026 Homeowners can’t obtain advice or accurate estimates without handing over their phone numbers and risk being pestered by overzealous salespeople. — Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 19 Aug. 2026 Scheierman also hit two earlier threes, grabbed five rebounds and pestered Gilgeous-Alexander to force a third-quarter turnover to help Boston take down the defending NBA champions 119-109. — Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 26 Mar. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pestered
  1. harassed
  2. bothered
  3. frustrated
  4. worried
  5. tortured
  6. harried
  7. tested
  8. tried
Adjective
  • Others were placed under house arrest, harassed or subject to extensive surveillance, or had their passports confiscated, according to prior NPR reporting and the findings of the United Nations and rights groups.
    — Emily Feng, NPR, 17 May 2026
  • For years, Christian clergy who live and work in Jerusalem have reported being frequently spat on, harassed and even physically attacked by Israeli extremists.
    — Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 1 May 2026
Definition of harassed
Verb
  • She was treated with such indifference by the Bordens that, with the exception of Abby, no one bothered to learn her name, calling her by the name of their last servant, Maggie, instead.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • What’s bothered me, though, is how its backers have anchored their messaging around a lot of misleading generalizations about the state of college sports.
    — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of bothered
Adjective
  • From this perspective, the fertility slump is a record of frustrated longing.
    — Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Such moments are the byproduct of a frustrated team and a frustrated fanbase, both trying to help each other and both unable to get out of each other’s way Sunday.
    — Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of frustrated
Verb
  • During each of those days, Elizabeth Pizzo worried her son would either be killed in jail or take his own life.
    — Jim DeFede, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Wells Fargo isn't the only Wall Street bank worried about a potential downturn.
    — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of worried
Adjective
  • But this leads to secrets revealed, lies told and tortured confrontations, not just with others but most intensely with himself.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Wuthering Heights In Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte presents a world of conflicts, frictions between families, passions, and attachments—especially those of Catherine Earnshaw and the tortured Heathcliff—across an untamed landscape.
    — Caroline Rogers, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of tortured
Adjective
  • Indeed, the footage of the harried production staff trying to keep the show going on from the office at Bray Studios where the shoot is happening sometimes plays like a vintage workplace comedy but with a dark undertow.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2026
  • The Hawk fire forced the harried evacuation of more than 40,000 people.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of harried
Adjective
  • Each application is pre-tested and integrated into the platform to reduce deployment time and improve reliability for end users.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 31 July 2026
  • But summer back in New York, amid the fug of the city, requires a return to a tested and true formula.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 22 June 2025
Definition of tested
Adjective
  • But first, the premiere settles the audience into a tried and true cop drama with power struggles over jurisdiction, a local militia led by a man with his own agenda, and a suspect who literally blows the case wide open.
    — Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Short films are a tried and true launching pad for horror directors.
    — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 14 July 2026
Definition of tried

Browse Nearby Words

pester
pestered
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Cite this Entry

“Pestered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pestered. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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