- pesky
- pesky 1775, originally in New England dialect, perhaps a dial. formation from pest (Cf. plaguy "confounded, annoying, disagreeable"). Partridge suggests an origin in Essex dialect.
Etymology dictionary. 2014.
pesky
Look at other dictionaries:
Pesky — Pes ky, a. [Etymol. uncertain.] Pestering; vexatious; troublesome. Used also as an intensive. [Colloq. & Low, U.S.] Judd. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
pesky — [adj] bothersome annoying, disturbing, irksome, mean, nettlesome, peeving, provoking, troublesome, ugly, vexatious, vexing, wicked; concepts 529,537 Ant. pleasing, untroubling … New thesaurus
pesky — ► ADJECTIVE (peskier, peskiest) informal ▪ annoying. ORIGIN perhaps related to PEST(Cf. ↑pest) … English terms dictionary
pesky — [pes′kē] adj. peskier, peskiest [prob. var. of pesty < PEST + Y2] Informal annoying; disagreeable; troublesome peskily adv. peskiness n … English World dictionary
pesky — [[t]pe̱ski[/t]] ADJ: ADJ n Pesky means irritating. [INFORMAL] ...as if he were a pesky tourist asking silly questions of a busy man … English dictionary
pesky — UK [ˈpeskɪ] / US adjective Word forms pesky : adjective pesky comparative peskier superlative peskiest informal annoying … English dictionary
pesky — mod. annoying; bothersome. □ I am going to kill that pesky fly! □ I’ve had a pesky headache all day … Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions
pesky — adjective (peskier; est) Etymology: probably irregular from pest + 1 y Date: 1775 troublesome, vexatious < pesky issues > … New Collegiate Dictionary
pesky — peskily, adv. peskiness, n. /pes kee/, adj., peskier, peskiest. Informal. annoyingly troublesome: bothered by a pesky fly. [1765 75; alter. of pesty (PEST + Y1)] Syn. vexatious, irksome, bothersome, pestiferous. * * * … Universalium
pesky — pes|ky [ˈpeski] adj [only before noun] informal especially AmE [Date: 1700 1800; Origin: Probably from pest] annoying ▪ Those pesky kids! … Dictionary of contemporary English
