harass
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French harasser (“to tire out, to vex”), of obscure origin, perhaps from Old French harer (“to stir up, provoke, set a dog on”) and/or Old French harier (“to harry”); see harry; compare (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French, harace (“a basket made of cords”), harace, harasse (“a very heavy and large shield”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: hərăsʹ, hăʹrəs, IPA(key): /həˈɹæs/, /ˈhæɹəs/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: hăʹrəs, hərăsʹ, IPA(key): /ˈhæɹəs/, /həˈɹæs/
- Rhymes: -æs
- Rhymes: -ærəs
Verb
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- To fatigue or to tire with repeated and exhausting efforts.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
- No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or […] . And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.
- To annoy endlessly or systematically; to molest.
- 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 23[1]
- In my old home, I always knew that John and my master were my friends; but here, although in many ways I was well treated, I had no friend. York might have known, and very likely did know, how that rein harassed me; but I suppose he took it as a matter of course that could not be helped; at any rate nothing was done to relieve me.
- 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 23[1]
- To put excessive burdens upon; to subject to anxieties.
- To harass good people is no different than speaking ill of them.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to fatigue or tire
|
to annoy; to molest
|
to put excessive burdens upon
Further reading
- “harass”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “harass”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Noun
harass
- (obsolete) devastation; waste
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)
- (obsolete) worry; harassment
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Byron to this entry?)
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Old French
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/æs
- Rhymes:English/ærəs
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- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
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