MEANING
To speak to or treat someone in an overbearing, bullying manner.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- hector a subordinate
On the page
The officer hectored the exhausted recruit.
He hectored her into silence.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- hector
- Past tense
- hectored
- Past participle
- hectored
- Present participle
- hectoring
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- hector
- Present continuous
- am/is/are hectoring
- Present perfect
- have/has hectored
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been hectoring
- Past
- hectored
- Past continuous
- was/were hectoring
- Past perfect
- had hectored
- Past perfect continuous
- had been hectoring
- Future
- will hector
- Future continuous
- will be hectoring
- Future perfect
- will have hectored
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been hectoring
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Forms: hector; hectors; hectored; hectored; hectoring Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: hectors.
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