hector
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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🗓️ 9 March 2026
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 9, 2026 is:
hector • \HEK-ter\ • verb
To hector someone is to criticize or question them in a threatening way.
// The judge ordered the attorney to stop hectoring the witness.
Examples:
“He continued to hector Neal about his inattention to business (‘I have been waiting to hear from you,’ again, and again, and again), without any tangible results.” — Jem Aswad, Variety, 5 Aug. 2025
Did you know?
In Homer’s Iliad, Hector, the eldest son of King Priam of Troy, was a model soldier, son, father, and friend, the champion of the Trojan army until he was killed by the Greek hero Achilles. So how did his name become a verb meaning “to intimidate or harass”? That use was likely influenced by gangs of rowdy street toughs who roamed London in the 17th century and called themselves “Hectors.” They may have thought themselves gallant young blades (that’s sense 3b(3)), but to the general populace they were swaggering bullies who intimidated passersby and vandalized property.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Word of the Day podcast for March 9th. |
| 0:11.8 | Today's word is Hector, spelled H-E-C-T-O-R. |
| 0:16.9 | Hector is a verb. |
| 0:18.4 | To hector someone is to criticize or question them in a threatening way. |
| 0:22.9 | Here's the word used in a sentence from Variety. |
| 0:26.0 | He continued to Hector Neal about his inattention to business. |
| 0:30.1 | I have been waiting to hear from you again and again and again, without any tangible results. |
| 0:36.8 | In Homer's Iliad, Hector, the eldest son of King Priam of Troy, |
| 0:41.8 | was a model soldier, son, father, and friend, the champion of the Trojan army, until he was |
| 0:48.6 | killed by the Greek hero Achilles. So how did his name become a verb, meaning to intimidate or harass? That use was likely |
| 0:58.2 | influenced by gangs of rowdy street-tuffs who roamed London in the 17th century and called themselves |
| 1:05.2 | hector's. They may have thought themselves gallant young blades, but to the general populace, they were swaggering bullies who intimidated passers-by and vandalized property. |
| 1:17.9 | With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. |
| 1:24.4 | Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups. |
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