Pestered

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Experienced repeated troublesome or annoying actions from others
2. Was persistently bothered or harassed by someone or something
3. Received continual annoying attention causing irritation

Etymology: Before it meant "to nag someone relentlessly," "pester" meant to crowd a place until it was jammed, and the older senses are still visible in its history. It descends from Old French "empestrer," which meant to hobble a horse by tying its legs, and by extension to encumber or hamper someone. Over time that sense of entanglement shifted toward the sense of being overrun, and English speakers reshaped the word around their own "pest," a nuisance or infestation. The result was a verb that started out describing a crowded room and ended up describing a person who will not stop talking. "Pestered" is simply the past tense of "pester," so it describes the experience of having been repeatedly harassed in the past. The verb's ending "-er" marks it as a repeated action, the same pattern found in words like "flutter" and "patter," which describe actions done over and over.

Synonyms: harassed, bothered, annoyed, irritated, troubled

Antonyms: comforted, solaced, assisted, relieved, helped