pesky

adjective

pes·​ky ˈpe-skē 

peskier; peskiest

: troublesome, vexatious

pesky issues

Synonyms of pesky

• annoying
• frustrating
• irritating

Examples of pesky in a Sentence

I've been trying to get rid of this pesky cold for weeks.

the pesky problem of what to do with all the leftovers

Recent Examples on the Web

There's also that pesky NCAA rulebook, which provides even more context to the whole situation. — Zach Dean Outkick, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026

Additionally, this doorbell has built-in local storage up to 128GB, eliminating the need for cloud storage or pesky subscription fees! — George Yang, PC Magazine, 3 Oct. 2026

Smith was able to stay relatively healthy last season, earning consistent playing time because of his pesky perimeter defense and steady offensive game in a backup point guard role. — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026

The pesky thing was looking around for some data on health care costs, found a wall in Australia’s Medicare database and decided simply to hop over it, easy peasy. — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

probably irregular from pest + -y entry 1

First Known Use

1775, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

pesky

adjective

pes·​ky ˈpes-kē 

peskier; peskiest

: troublesome sense 2

peskily

-kə-lē

adverb

peskiness

-kē-nəs

noun