Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Troublesome; annoying.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Excessively: as, pesky slow.
  • Troublesome; annoying; plaguy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Colloq. & Low, U.S. Pestering; vexatious; troublesome. Used also as an intensive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Annoying, troublesome, irritating.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective causing irritation or annoyance

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably alteration of pest.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly from pesty.

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Examples

  • The obvious result, if this type of suit becomes successful and pesky, is of course for media to start blocking Internet traffic from British URLs.

    Coyote Blog » 2005 » March 2005

  • The obvious result, if this type of suit becomes successful and pesky, is of course for media to start blocking Internet traffic from British URLs.

    Coyote Blog » Blog Archive » Notice to Britain 2005

  • The obvious result, if this type of suit becomes successful and pesky, is of course for media to start blocking Internet traffic from British URLs.

    Coyote Blog » 2005 » March 2005

  • They are up to their pinstripes in pesky rattlesnakes.

    USATODAY.com - Johnson too big for Yankees 2001

  • I just tend to dislike certain pesky things like the "droit du seigneur" (did I spell that right?

    Free to be Home 2006

  • Maybe somebody outraged by the idea of pesky women ruining good soldiers 'careers, and then quitting anyway.

    Running Blind Child, Lee 2000

  • Widely known as a pesky hitter, Eckstein is looking for a new home after brief stints in

    SI.com 2010

  • This motion will add to the exfoliation process and also help with the removal of fine facial hair, better known as pesky peach fuzz.

    xml's Blinklist.com 2008

  • Bug killer — Insecticidal soap kills most soft-bodied insects, such as pesky aphids, by dehydration.

    How to use soap in the garden 2010

  • Liberals keep trying to forget the original "pesky" Bill of Rights on their dash to the Socialist State. please

    Five states join lawsuit against health care bill 2010

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