hassle

English

WOTD – 20 August 2009

Unknown. Probably from US Southern dialectal hassle (“to pant, breathe noisily”), possibly from haste +‎ -le (frequentative suffix).

hassle (plural hassles)

Trouble, bother, unwanted annoyances or problems.
I went through a lot of hassle to be the first to get a ticket.
A fight or argument.
An action which is not worth the difficulty involved.

trouble, bother, unwanted annoyances or problems

Bulgarian: неприятност (bg) f (neprijatnost), проблем (bg) m (problem)
Danish: besvær n, bøvl n, mas n
Finnish: sählinki (fi), sähläys
French: tracas (fr), peine (fr)
German: Ärger (de) m
Italian: inconveniente (it) m, problema (it) m
Norwegian: styr (no) n
Persian: دردسر‎ (fa) (dardesar)
Polish: kłopot (pl) m, problem (pl) m
Russian: барье́р (ru) m (barʹjér), прегра́да (ru) f (pregráda),, поме́ха (ru) f (poméxa), препя́тствие (ru) n (prepjátstvije), тру́дность (ru) f (trúdnostʹ), (informal) моро́ка (ru) f (moróka), (informal) геморро́й (ru) f (gemorrój), нервотрёпка (ru) f (nervotrjópka)
Spanish: lío (es) m, apuro (es) m, tropiezo (es) m, fastidio (es) m
Swedish: besvär (sv), krångel (sv) n

fight or argument

action which is not worth the difficulty involved

hassle (third-person singular simple present hassles, present participle hassling, simple past and past participle hassled)

To trouble, to bother, to annoy.
The unlucky boy was hassled by a gang of troublemakers on his way home.
- 1969, Beard & Kennedy, Bored of the Rings, page 42:
  "Oh uncool bush! Unloose this passle Of furry cats that you hassle!"
To pick a fight or start an argument.
(military, aviation, slang) To engage in a mock dogfight.
- 2018, Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff
  Likewise, “hassling”—mock dogfighting—was strictly forbidden, and so naturally young fighter jocks could hardly wait to go up in, say, a pair of F–100s and start the duel by making a pass at each other at 800 miles an hour, […]
- 2019, Dan Pedersen, Topgun
  If you were caught 'hassling,' as we called dogfighting, your career could end. The edict against dogfighting divided our squadron into three factions.

To trouble, to bother, to annoy

Bulgarian: дразня (bg) (draznja), безпокоя (bg) (bezpokoja)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 騷攪／骚搅 (zh) (sāojiǎo)
Danish: chikanere (da), genere (da), plage (da)
Finnish: kiusata (fi)
French: harceler (fr)
German: ärgern (de), nerven (de), plagen (de)
Hindi: तंग करना (taṅg karnā), सिर खाना (sir khānā)
Maori: hawene, whakatōwenewene, whakahōhā, whakangari
Portuguese: incomodar (pt), aborrecer (pt)
Russian: донима́ть (ru) (donimátʹ), надоеда́ть (ru) (nadojedátʹ), докуча́ть (ru) (dokučátʹ), (colloquial) напряга́ть (ru) (naprjagátʹ), (colloquial) достава́ть (ru) (dostavátʹ)
Spanish: molestar (es), fastidiar (es), fregar (es), aperrear (es)

To pick a fight or start an argument

hassle (comparative more hassle, superlative most hassle)