1
: persistently annoying or finding fault with someone
a nagging husband/wife
2
a
: causing continual or recurring worry or anxiety
a nagging fear
This time, the worry is that the housing slowdown will curtail growth before the Federal Reserve gets nagging inflation concerns resolved.—
Scott Patterson
Scott Patterson
b
: causing continual or recurring pain or discomfort
He'd had a nagging headache all day.
a nagging injury
naggingly
adverb
There has always been something naggingly sad about Bonds' career …
—Tim Keown
Tim Keown
… something about the book feels naggingly familiar, as if you know how it will end before you start …
—Debra Pickett
Debra Pickett
Synonyms
Examples of nagging in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Picture the victory of climbing into bed free of that nagging soreness once and for all.
—Hilary Tetenbaum, Detroit Free Press, 8 Apr. 2024
After breezing through the hard part of his journey back from offseason hip surgery, the 36-year-old right-hander felt some nagging discomfort in his elbow following a recent bullpen session.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2024
But beneath that indignation lurked something else—a nagging anxiety coaxed into sharper visibility by the therapeutic aura of Kafka’s sleek analytic couch.
—Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
These acts, after all, are designed to provide wholesome memories, not nagging nightmares.
—Jonathan Abrams, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2024
Julia at Jacquemus or Taylor Swift’s Super Bowl logistics, Mean Girls or girl dinner, Pharrell’s cowboys or The Row’s weird-ass slippers are all welcome diversions from that nagging feeling at our periphery.
—Raven Smith, Vogue, 31 Jan. 2024
Fully remote workers may find themselves lately with the nagging feeling that promotions and plum assignments are passing them by.
—Bypaolo Confino, Fortune, 18 Mar. 2024
And not only is the nagging getting worse, but patients hate it because these are private health matters seemingly being shared in a wide network of doctors, databases and even with some total strangers.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024
Women’s caregiving duties and the extraordinary cost of childcare combined with the nagging gender pay gap all factor into women’s desire for more flexible work.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Europe, 12 Mar. 2024
Hilary Tetenbaum, Detroit Free Press, 8 Apr. 2024
After breezing through the hard part of his journey back from offseason hip surgery, the 36-year-old right-hander felt some nagging discomfort in his elbow following a recent bullpen session.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2024
But beneath that indignation lurked something else—a nagging anxiety coaxed into sharper visibility by the therapeutic aura of Kafka’s sleek analytic couch.
—Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
These acts, after all, are designed to provide wholesome memories, not nagging nightmares.
—Jonathan Abrams, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2024
Julia at Jacquemus or Taylor Swift’s Super Bowl logistics, Mean Girls or girl dinner, Pharrell’s cowboys or The Row’s weird-ass slippers are all welcome diversions from that nagging feeling at our periphery.
—Raven Smith, Vogue, 31 Jan. 2024
Fully remote workers may find themselves lately with the nagging feeling that promotions and plum assignments are passing them by.
—Bypaolo Confino, Fortune, 18 Mar. 2024
And not only is the nagging getting worse, but patients hate it because these are private health matters seemingly being shared in a wide network of doctors, databases and even with some total strangers.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024
Women’s caregiving duties and the extraordinary cost of childcare combined with the nagging gender pay gap all factor into women’s desire for more flexible work.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Europe, 12 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nagging.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near nagging
Cite this Entry
“Nagging.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nagging. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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