molest

From Middle English molesten, from Old French molester, from Latin molestō (“to trouble, annoy, molest”), from molestus (“troublesome”), from moles (“a burden, difficulty, labor, trouble”); see mole.

• IPA^(key): /məˈlɛst/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst

molest (third-person singular simple present molests, present participle molesting, simple past and past participle molested)

1. To sexually assault or sexually harass.

   Synonyms: come on to, diddle, touch

2. (dated) To annoy, trouble, or afflict.

   Synonyms: bother, disturb; see also Thesaurus:annoy

   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     They have molested the church with needless opposition.

   • 2020, Chief Executive in Council, “Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation”, in Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette‎^[1], Section 13(1), page B555:

     A person must not delay, obstruct, hinder or molest an authorized officer who is performing a function under this Regulation.

3. (obsolete) To disturb or tamper with.

   Synonyms: dabble in, interfere with, meddle with

• “molest”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “molest”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• Motles, motels

Unadapted borrowing from Dutch molest.

molest

1. (law) damage from war

• “molest” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.