henpeck

English

WOTD – 30 May 2010

Etymology

hen +‎ peck

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛn.pɛk/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Verb

henpeck (third-person singular simple present henpecks, present participle henpecking, simple past and past participle henpecked)

1. (chiefly by a wife) To nag persistently.
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, I:

     Oh! ye lords of ladies intellectual, / Inform us truly, have they not hen-peck'd you all?

Derived terms

• henpecked

Translations

to nag persistently

• Finnish: nalkuttaa (fi)
• French: persécuter (fr), barber (fr), importuner (fr), harceler (fr), emmerder (fr) (gross), faire chier (fr) (very gross), casser les couilles (fr) (very gross)
• Italian: importunare (it), punzecchiare (it)
• Mandarin: 唠叨 (zh)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: haku
• Russian: держа́ть под каблуком (deržátʹ pod kablukom)
• Spanish: jorobar (es), fastidiar (es), importunar (es), hostigar (es), acosar (es), joder (es) (very gross)

Noun

henpeck (plural henpecks)

1. (rare) A man who is meekly subservient to his wife.
   • 1985, James Mallahan Cain, ‎Roy Hoopes, ‎Michael Hinden, 60 Years of Journalism (page 40)

     The moment he allows the emphasis to swing the other way he becomes a sit-by-the-fire, a cockerel, a drone, a henpeck. A woman steps into this man's sphere at her peril.