noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The act of molesting. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   the act of tormenting by continued persistent attacks and criticism wordnet
3. 3
   the act of subjecting someone to unwanted or improper sexual advances or activity (especially women or children) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

annoyanceabuseaggravationassaultatrocitybad news

Example

More examples

"Tom was a victim of molestation as a child."

Etymology

From Old French molestacion, from Latin molestatio. By surface analysis, molest + -ation.

Related phrases

child molestation

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.