Harass

Harass (pronounced huh-ras (U) or har-uhs (Non-U))

(1) To disturb or bother persistently; torment, as with troubles or cares; pester.

(2) To intimidate or coerce, as with persistent demands or threats.

(3) To subject another to unwelcome sexual advances.

(4) In military and paramilitary jargon, to trouble by repeated attacks, incursions etc, as in war or hostilities; harry; raid.

1610–1620: From the French harasser (to tire out; to vex), the origin obscure but probably from the Middle French harasser (to harry, harass), a verbal derivative of harace & harache from the Frankish hara (here, from this side) which existed in the Old French as harer (to set a dog upon prey) and of Germanic origin; the Old High German was hera & harēn (to cry out), the Middle Dutch was here.  The alternative, less supported, etymology suggests a derivation from the Old French harier (to harry), related to harace (a basket made of cords) & harasse (a very heavy and large shield).  The now obsolete meaning “to lay waste, to devastate” dates from the 1620s whereas the sense "to vex by repeated attacks" from the French harasser (to tire out, to vex) emerged in the early sixteenth century and the noun harassment (action of harassing; state of being harassed) was first noted in 1753.  Harass, as applied to mind or body, suggesting the infliction of the weariness that comes from the continuance or repetition of trying experiences, so that there is not time for rest, appeared in dictionaries first in 1897.  The distinction of meaning is that to feel harassed doesn’t (necessarily) depend on an identifiable act of harassment by others.  Synonyms, varying by context, include badger, vex, plague, hector, annoy, besiege, harangue, beset, burn, raid, tease, intimidate, pester, torment, persecute, heckle, hassle, hound, maraud, bait, distress, exhaust, strain, vex, foray, worry & devil.  Harass is a noun & verb, harassing is an adjective & noun, harasser & harassment are nouns, harassed & harassable are adjectives and harassingly is an adverb; the noun plural is harasses.

Another class-identifier

Harass was traditionally pronounced in English as har-uhs, with stress on the first syllable but a newer pronunciation, huh-ras, with stress on the second, has become more common in the last half-century, especially in North America.  Although there’s no evidence, the speculation is the newer form emerged because it’s easier to say and there’s much support for the view, the feeling it happened just as kuhn-trov-er-see emerged as more palatable alternative to the traditional and proper kon-truh-vur-see.  Most dictionaries now acknowledge both forms are correct, the cross-cutting cleavages being both trans-Atlantic and generational, the inference generally drawn that the younger version will continue to gain adherents while the traditional form will survive among pedants and as a class-identifier.

Cross-vested harassment complaints: Ms Lohan & Mr LaBella.

In what sounded a very New York City sort of affair, Lindsay Lohan (b 1986) and Christian LaBella (b 1987) in September 2012 each filed harassment complaints with against each other after they were interviewed by police about a squabble in a hotel room, the details of which remain contested and sketchy.  Mr LaBell was a former congressional aide and because no charges could be substantiated, no further was taken, the cross-harassment complaints apparently satisfying honor on both sides.  All's well that ends well.