molestar

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

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

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

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

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

1. to bother, annoy

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

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

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, joder, jorobar

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)

• 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.

• “molestar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024