# molestar
## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin molestāre, from molestus (“troublesome”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [mu.ləsˈta]
* IPA: (Balearic) [mo.ləsˈta]
* IPA: (Valencia) [mo.lesˈtaɾ]
* Audio (Barcelona):(file)

### Verb

molestar (first-person singular present molesto, first-person singular preterite molestí, past participle molestat); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/
* (transitive) to bother, annoy
    Synonym: empipar
* to disturb
* to hurt

#### Related terms

* molèstia

## Galician
### Verb

molestar (first-person singular present molesto, first-person singular preterite molestei, past participle molestado)
* to bother, annoy

#### Conjugation

$^1$Less recommended.

## Ido
### Etymology

Borrowing from English molest, Spanish molestar, Italian molestare, German molestieren and French molester.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mo.lesˈtar/, /mo.leˈstar/

### Verb

molestar (present tense molestas, past tense molestis, future tense molestos, imperative molestez, conditional molestus)
* (transitive) to molest, to harass, to mistreat

#### Conjugation
## Portuguese
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin molestāre, from molestus (“troublesome”).

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /mo.lesˈta(ʁ)/ [mo.lesˈta(h)]
* (Brazil) IPA: /mo.lesˈta(ʁ)/ [mo.lesˈta(h)]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /mo.lesˈta(ɾ)/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /mo.leʃˈta(ʁ)/ [mo.leʃˈta(χ)]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /mo.lesˈta(ɻ)/
* (Portugal) IPA: /mu.lɨʃˈtaɾ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /mu.lɨʃˈtaɾ/
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /mu.lɨʃˈta.ɾi/

### Verb

molestar (first-person singular present molesto, first-person singular preterite molestei, past participle molestado)
* to trouble; to bother; to annoy; to harass
    Synonym: incomodar
* to molest (to abuse sexually)

#### Conjugation

$^1$Brazilian Portuguese. $^2$European Portuguese.

## Spanish
### Etymology

From Latin molestāre, from molestus (“troublesome”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /molesˈtaɾ/ [mo.lesˈt̪aɾ]
* Audio (Colombia):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: mo‧les‧tar

### Verb

molestar (first-person singular present molesto, first-person singular preterite molesté, past participle molestado)
* to bother, to disturb, to trouble, to impose, to inconvenience, to burden
    Synonyms: fastidiar, fregar, joder, jorobar
* to annoy, to tease, to pester, to bug, to hassle
* to upset, to discomfort
* to mind (uses indirect object)
* (intransitive) to intrude
* (reflexive) to get upset
* (reflexive) to bother (to, en)

#### Usage notes

* molestar is a false friend and does not have the sexual connotation of English "to molest". The phrase for that in Spanish could be abusar sexualmente depending on context.

#### Conjugation

$^1$Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language. $^2$Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

#### Related terms

* molestia f
* molesto
* molestoso

#### See also

* agobiar

### Further reading

* “molestar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10