HARASS Definition & Meaning

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harass

[ huh-ras, har-uhs ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

to disturb or bother persistently; torment, as with troubles or cares; pester:
He stays up late, harassed with doubt and anxiety.
Synonyms: , , , ,
to intimidate or coerce, as with persistent demands or threats:
Apparently a parent has been harassing the school principal with late-night phone calls.
to subject to unwelcome sexual advances:
I was harassed by my boss many years ago.
to trouble by repeated attacks, incursions, etc., as in war or hostilities; harry; raid.
Synonyms: ,

harass

/ ˈhærəs; həˈræs /

verb

tr to trouble, torment, or confuse by continual persistent attacks, questions, etc

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Pronunciation Note

harass , a 17th-century borrowing from French, has traditionally been pronounced in English as [har, -, uh, s], with stress on the first syllable. A newer pronunciation, [h, uh, -, ras], has developed in North American (but not British) English and has become the more common one in the U.S., especially among younger speakers.

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Derived Forms

ˈ�󲹰��Բ�, adjectivenoun
ˈ�󲹰��Գ�, noun
ˈ�󲹰��, adjective

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Other 51�Թ� Forms

��·��a·�� adjective
��·���� noun
��·��i�Բ�·�� adverb
��·��m��Գ� noun
��v��·�󲹰�a�� verb (used with object)
�ܲ�·��·�� adjective

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of harass¹

First recorded in 1610–20; from French, Middle French harasser “to harry, harass,” verbal derivative of harace, harache (in phrase courre a la harace “pursue”), equivalent to hare “cry used to urge dogs on” (from Frankish hara (unattested) “here, from this side”; compare Old High German hera, Middle Dutch hare ) + -asse augmentative or pejorative suffix, from Latin -�峦��

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of harass¹

C17: from French harasser, variant of Old French harer to set a dog on, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German �󲹰�ŧ�� to cry out

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Synonym Study

See worry.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

In Venezuela, being LGBTQ+ isn’t a crime, but police still harass the community by raiding bars.

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"Freedom of speech is in no way inhibited, except they cannot stand outside abortion clinics so as to harass the women trying to get in."

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Protesters have been harassed online and the leader of the ultras had to avoid a glass bottle that was thrown at him.

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Wall also falsely claimed that Brad had in fact been harassing her for 10 years - and that he had been arrested and jailed.

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From Amazon forcing workers to urinate in bottles to Walmart penalizing employees for taking sick days, employers everywhere use and abuse their authority in the workplace to humiliate, demean, and harass workers.

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