MEANING
To interrupt a speaker or performer with comments, challenges, or insults.
Use it for
disrupting a public speech; an audience challenging a performer; verbal provocation during a meeting
Words that belong together
- heckle a speaker
- heckle from the audience
On the page
One listener heckled the minister until the chair called for order.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- heckle
- Past tense
- heckled
- Past participle
- heckled
- Present participle
- heckling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- heckle
- Present continuous
- am/is/are heckling
- Present perfect
- have/has heckled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been heckling
- Past
- heckled
- Past continuous
- was/were heckling
- Past perfect
- had heckled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been heckling
- Future
- will heckle
- Future continuous
- will be heckling
- Future perfect
- will have heckled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been heckling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: heckle; heckles; heckled; heckled; heckling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: dialogue, character. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: heckles.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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