Hassling

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To subject someone to continual annoyance or disturbance through relentless requests or interruptions
2. To repeatedly interfere with or pester a person in a way that causes discomfort or frustration
3. The action of continuously urging or pressuring someone, often creating a stressful or annoying situation

Etymology: "Hassling" is simply the -ing form of "hassle," so its history is the history of that verb. The origin of "hassle" is unknown, and the most-cited guess links it to a Southern American dialect verb meaning "to pant" or "breathe noisily," the sense of exhausted struggling for breath. That sense of effortful, wearing struggle may have carried over into the modern meaning of being worn down by constant bother. A second possibility is that "hassle" grew from "haste," perhaps with the suffix "-le," which English uses to form words describing repeated or continued action, as in "sparkle" or "waddle." Neither explanation can be confirmed, so the exact route remains open. What is clear is that the verb now means pestering someone continually, so that the person being hassled feels worn down rather than simply annoyed.

Synonyms: bothering, harassing, nagging, pestering, troubling

Antonyms: calming, soothing, comforting, relaxing, assisting