molestar

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin molestāre, from molestus (“troublesome”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [mu.ləsˈta]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [mo.ləsˈta]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [mo.lesˈtaɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

molestar (first-person singular present molesto, first-person singular preterite molestí, past participle molestat); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

1. (transitive) to bother, annoy

   Synonym: empipar

2. to disturb
3. to hurt

Conjugation

    Conjugation of molestar (first conjugation)

infinitive			molestar
gerund			molestant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		molestat		molestada
		plural		molestats		molestades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	molesto	molestes	molesta	molestem	molesteu	molesten
	imperfect	molestava	molestaves	molestava	molestàvem	molestàveu	molestaven
	future	molestaré	molestaràs	molestarà	molestarem	molestareu	molestaran
	preterite	molestí	molestares	molestà	molestàrem	molestàreu	molestaren
	conditional	molestaria	molestaries	molestaria	molestaríem	molestaríeu	molestarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	molesti	molestis	molesti	molestem	molesteu	molestin
	imperfect	molestés	molestessis	molestés	molestéssim	molestéssiu	molestessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	molesta	molesti	molestem	molesteu	molestin
	negative (no)	—	no molestis	no molesti	no molestem	no molesteu	no molestin

Related terms

• molèstia

Galician

Verb

molestar (first-person singular present molesto, first-person singular preterite molestei, past participle molestado)

1. to bother, annoy

Conjugation

    Conjugation of molestar

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	molestar
Personal	molestar	molestares	molestar	molestarmos	molestardes	molestaren
Gerund
	molestando
Past participle
Masculine	molestado			molestados
Feminine	molestada			molestadas
Indicative
Present	molesto	molestas	molesta	molestamos	molestades	molestan
Imperfect	molestaba	molestabas	molestaba	molestabamos	molestabades	molestaban
Preterite	molestei	molestaches	molestou	molestamos	molestastes	molestaron
Pluperfect	molestara	molestaras	molestara	molestaramos	molestarades	molestaran
Future	molestarei	molestarás	molestará	molestaremos	molestaredes	molestarán
Conditional	molestaría	molestarías	molestaría	molestariamos	molestariades	molestarían
Subjunctive
Present	moleste	molestes	moleste	molestemos	molestedes	molesten
Imperfect	molestase	molestases	molestase	molestásemos	molestásedes	molestasen
Future	molestar	molestares	molestar	molestarmos	molestardes	molestaren
Imperative
Affirmative		molesta	moleste	molestemos	molestade	molesten
Negative (non)		non molestes	non moleste	non molestemos	non molestedes	non molesten

    Reintegrated conjugation of molestar (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	molestar
Personal	molestar	molestares	molestar	molestarmos	molestardes	molestarem
Gerund
	molestando
Past participle
Masculine	molestado			molestados
Feminine	molestada			molestadas
Indicative
Present	molesto	molestas	molesta	molestamos	molestades, molestais	molestam
Imperfect	molestava	molestavas	molestava	molestávamos	molestávades, molestáveis, molestávais1	molestavam
Preterite	molestei	molestaste, molestache1	molestou	molestamos	molestastes	molestárom, molestaram
Pluperfect	molestara	molestaras	molestara	molestáramos	molestárades, molestáreis, molestárais1	molestaram
Future	molestarei	molestarás	molestará	molestaremos	molestaredes, molestareis	molestarám, molestarão
Conditional	molestaria	molestarias	molestaria	molestaríamos	molestaríades, molestaríeis, molestaríais1	molestariam
Subjunctive
Present	moleste	molestes	moleste	molestemos	molestedes, molesteis	molestem
Imperfect	molestasse	molestasses	molestasse	molestássemos	molestássedes, molestásseis	molestassem
Future	molestar	molestares	molestar	molestarmos	molestardes	molestarem
Imperative
Affirmative		molesta	moleste	molestemos	molestade, molestai	molestem
Negative (nom)		nom molestes	nom moleste	nom molestemos	nom molestedes, nom molesteis	nom molestem

¹Less recommended.

Ido

Etymology

Borrowing from English molest, Spanish molestar, Italian molestare, German molestieren and French molester.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mo.lesˈtar/, /mo.leˈstar/

Verb

molestar (present tense molestas, past tense molestis, future tense molestos, imperative molestez, conditional molestus)

1. (transitive) to molest, to harass, to mistreat

Conjugation

Conjugation of molestar

		present		past		future
infinitive		molestar		molestir		molestor
tense		molestas		molestis		molestos
conditional		molestus		—		—
imperative		molestez		—		—
adjective active participle		molestanta		molestinta		molestonta
adverbial active participle		molestante		molestinte		molestonte
nominal active participle	singular	molestanto		molestinto		molestonto
	plural	molestanti		molestinti		molestonti
adjective passive participle		molestata		molestita		molestota
adverbial passive participle		molestate		molestite		molestote
nominal passive participle	singular	molestato		molestito		molestoto
	plural	molestati		molestiti		molestoti

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin molestāre, from molestus (“troublesome”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /mo.lesˈta(ʁ)/ [mo.lesˈta(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /mo.lesˈta(ʁ)/ [mo.lesˈta(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /mo.lesˈta(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /mo.leʃˈta(ʁ)/ [mo.leʃˈta(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /mo.lesˈta(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mu.lɨʃˈtaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mu.lɨʃˈtaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mu.lɨʃˈta.ɾi/

Verb

molestar (first-person singular present molesto, first-person singular preterite molestei, past participle molestado)

1. to trouble; to bother; to annoy; to harass

   Synonym: incomodar

2. to molest (to abuse sexually)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of molestar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	molestar
Personal	molestar	molestares	molestar	molestarmos	molestardes	molestarem
Gerund
	molestando
Past participle
Masculine	molestado			molestados
Feminine	molestada			molestadas
Indicative
Present	molesto	molestas	molesta	molestamos	molestais	molestam
Imperfect	molestava	molestavas	molestava	molestávamos	molestáveis	molestavam
Preterite	molestei	molestaste	molestou	molestamos1, molestámos2	molestastes	molestaram
Pluperfect	molestara	molestaras	molestara	molestáramos	molestáreis	molestaram
Future	molestarei	molestarás	molestará	molestaremos	molestareis	molestarão
Conditional	molestaria	molestarias	molestaria	molestaríamos	molestaríeis	molestariam
Subjunctive
Present	moleste	molestes	moleste	molestemos	molesteis	molestem
Imperfect	molestasse	molestasses	molestasse	molestássemos	molestásseis	molestassem
Future	molestar	molestares	molestar	molestarmos	molestardes	molestarem
Imperative
Affirmative		molesta	moleste	molestemos	molestai	molestem
Negative (não)		não molestes	não moleste	não molestemos	não molesteis	não molestem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Further reading

• “molestar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “molestar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin molestāre, from molestus (“troublesome”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /molesˈtaɾ/ [mo.lesˈt̪aɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: mo‧les‧tar

Verb

molestar (first-person singular present molesto, first-person singular preterite molesté, past participle molestado)

1. to bother, to disturb, to trouble, to impose, to inconvenience, to burden

   Synonyms: fastidiar, fregar, (vulgar) joder, jorobar, incomodar, incordiar, cargosear, agobiar, brear, importunar, (vulgar) chingar

   Deja de molestarme.

   Stop bothering me.

2. to annoy, to tease, to pester, to bug, to hassle
3. to upset, to discomfort
4. to mind (uses indirect object)
5. (intransitive) to intrude
6. (reflexive) to get upset
7. (reflexive) to bother (to, en)

Usage notes

• molestar is a false friend and does not have the sexual connotation of English "to molest". The phrase for that in Spanish could be abusar sexualmente depending on context.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of molestar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			molestar
gerund			molestando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		molestado		molestada
		plural		molestados		molestadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	molesto	molestastú molestásvos	molesta	molestamos	molestáis	molestan
	imperfect	molestaba	molestabas	molestaba	molestábamos	molestabais	molestaban
	preterite	molesté	molestaste	molestó	molestamos	molestasteis	molestaron
	future	molestaré	molestarás	molestará	molestaremos	molestaréis	molestarán
	conditional	molestaría	molestarías	molestaría	molestaríamos	molestaríais	molestarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	moleste	molestestú molestésvos2	moleste	molestemos	molestéis	molesten
	imperfect (ra)	molestara	molestaras	molestara	molestáramos	molestarais	molestaran
	imperfect (se)	molestase	molestases	molestase	molestásemos	molestaseis	molestasen
	future1	molestare	molestares	molestare	molestáremos	molestareis	molestaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		molestatú molestávos	moleste	molestemos	molestad	molesten
	negative		no molestes	no moleste	no molestemos	no molestéis	no molesten

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of molestar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive molestar	dative	molestarme	molestarte	molestarle, molestarse	molestarnos	molestaros	molestarles, molestarse
	accusative	molestarme	molestarte	molestarlo, molestarla, molestarse	molestarnos	molestaros	molestarlos, molestarlas, molestarse
with gerund molestando	dative	molestándome	molestándote	molestándole, molestándose	molestándonos	molestándoos	molestándoles, molestándose
	accusative	molestándome	molestándote	molestándolo, molestándola, molestándose	molestándonos	molestándoos	molestándolos, molestándolas, molestándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative molesta	dative	moléstame	moléstate	moléstale	moléstanos	not used	moléstales
	accusative	moléstame	moléstate	moléstalo, moléstala	moléstanos	not used	moléstalos, moléstalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative molestá	dative	molestame	molestate	molestale	molestanos	not used	molestales
	accusative	molestame	molestate	molestalo, molestala	molestanos	not used	molestalos, molestalas
with formal second-person singular imperative moleste	dative	molésteme	not used	moléstele, moléstese	moléstenos	not used	molésteles
	accusative	molésteme	not used	moléstelo, moléstela, moléstese	moléstenos	not used	moléstelos, moléstelas
with first-person plural imperative molestemos	dative	not used	molestémoste	molestémosle	molestémonos	molestémoos	molestémosles
	accusative	not used	molestémoste	molestémoslo, molestémosla	molestémonos	molestémoos	molestémoslos, molestémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative molestad	dative	molestadme	not used	molestadle	molestadnos	molestaos	molestadles
	accusative	molestadme	not used	molestadlo, molestadla	molestadnos	molestaos	molestadlos, molestadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative molesten	dative	moléstenme	not used	moléstenle	moléstennos	not used	moléstenles, moléstense
	accusative	moléstenme	not used	moléstenlo, moléstenla	moléstennos	not used	moléstenlos, moléstenlas, moléstense

Related terms

• molestia f
• molesto
• molestoso

See also

• agobiar

Further reading

• “molestar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025