different between harass vs exasperate

English

Etymology

From Old French harasser (“to tire out, to vex”), of obscure origin, perhaps from Old French harer (“to stir up, provoke, set a dog on”) and/or Old French harier (“to harry”); see harry; compare Old French harace (“a basket made of cords”), harace, harasse (“a very heavy and large shield”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: h?r?s?, h??r?s, IPA^(key): /h???æs/, /?hæ??s/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: h??r?s, h?r?s?, IPA^(key): /?hæ??s/, /h???æs/
• Rhymes: -æs
• Rhymes: -ær?s

Verb

harass (third-person singular simple present harasses, present participle harassing, simple past and past participle harassed)

1. To fatigue or to tire with repeated and exhausting efforts.
2. To annoy endlessly or systematically.

   Synonyms: beset, chevy, hassle, harry, molest, plague, provoke

   • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 23[1]

     In my old home, I always knew that John and my master were my friends; but here, although in many ways I was well treated, I had no friend. York might have known, and very likely did know, how that rein harassed me; but I suppose he took it as a matter of course that could not be helped; at any rate nothing was done to relieve me.

3. To put excessive burdens upon; to subject to anxieties.

Derived terms

• harasser
• harassful
• harassment

Translations

Noun

harass

1. (obsolete) devastation; waste
2. (obsolete) worry; harassment

   • The daily harass, and the fight delay'd

Further reading

• harass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• harass in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• hassar

English

Etymology

From Latin exasper?; ex (“out of; thoroughly”) + asper? (“make rough”), from asper (“rough”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /???zæsp(?)?e?t/
• (Received Pronunciation, also) IPA^(key): /???z??sp??e?t/
• Rhymes: -æsp??e?t
• Hyphenation: ex?as?per?ate

Verb

exasperate (third-person singular simple present exasperates, present participle exasperating, simple past and past participle exasperated)

1. To tax the patience of, irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.
   • c. 1611, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 3, scene 6:

     And this report

     Hath so exasperate [sic] the king that he

     Prepares for some attempt of war.

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 3:

     The picture represents a Cape-Horner in a great hurricane; the half-foundered ship weltering there with its three dismantled masts alone visible; and an exasperated whale, purposing to spring clean over the craft, is in the enormous act of impaling himself upon the three mast-heads.

   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, chapter 11:

     Beadle goes into various shops and parlours, examining the inhabitants; always shutting the door first, and by exclusion, delay, and general idiotcy, exasperating the public.

   • 1987 January 5, "Woman of the Year: Corazon Aquino," Time:

     [S]he exasperates her security men by acting as if she were protected by some invisible shield.

   • 2007 June 4, "Loyal Mail," Times Online (UK) (retrieved 7 Oct 2010):

     News that Adam Crozier, Royal Mail chief executive, is set to receive a bumper bonus will exasperate postal workers.

Translations

Adjective

exasperate (comparative more exasperate, superlative most exasperate)

1. (obsolete) exasperated; embittered.
   • c. 1601, William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, Act V, Scene 1,^[1]

     Thersites. Do I curse thee?

     Patroclus. Why no, you ruinous butt, you whoreson indistinguishable cur, no.

     Thersites. No! why art thou then exasperate, thou idle immaterial skein of sleave-silk […]

   • 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman & Hall, 1857, Book 4, p. 177,^[2]

     Like swallows which the exasperate dying year

     Sets spinning […]

Related terms

See also

• exacerbate

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “exasperate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eksaspe?rate/, /e?zaspe?rate/

Verb

exasperate

1. adverbial present passive participle of exasperar

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ek.sas.pe?ra?.te/, [?ks?äs?p???ä?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ek.sas.pe?ra.te/, [??z?sp?????t??]

Verb

exasper?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of exasper?