"henpeck" meaning in English

See henpeck in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈhɛnpɛk/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈhɛnˌpɛk/ [General-American] Audio: En-au-henpeck.ogg [Australia] Forms: henpecks [plural]
Etymology: From hen + peck. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|hen|peck|notext=1|type=endocentric}} hen + peck Head templates: {{en-noun}} henpeck (plural henpecks)
  1. (rare) A man who is meekly subservient to his wife. Tags: rare
    Sense id: en-henpeck-en-noun-943gsjoR

Verb

IPA: /ˈhɛnpɛk/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈhɛnˌpɛk/ [General-American] Audio: En-au-henpeck.ogg [Australia] Forms: henpecks [present, singular, third-person], henpecking [participle, present], henpecked [participle, past], henpecked [past]
Etymology: From hen + peck. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|hen|peck|notext=1|type=endocentric}} hen + peck Head templates: {{en-verb}} henpeck (third-person singular simple present henpecks, present participle henpecking, simple past and past participle henpecked)
  1. (chiefly by a wife) To nag persistently. Synonyms: hen-peck, hen peck Derived forms: henpecked Translations (to nag persistently): nalkuttaa (Finnish), persécuter (French), barber (French), importuner (French), harceler (French), emmerder (english: gross) (French), faire chier (english: very gross) (French), casser les couilles (english: very gross) (French), importunare (Italian), punzecchiare (Italian), 唠叨 (Mandarin), haku (Maori), hakuhaku (Maori), держа́ть под каблуком (deržátʹ pod kablukom) (Russian), jorobar (Spanish), fastidiar (Spanish), importunar (Spanish), hostigar (Spanish), acosar (Spanish), joder (english: very gross) (Spanish), hunsa (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-henpeck-en-verb-6Q95M2n8 Categories (other): English endocentric compounds, English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English endocentric compounds: 44 56 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 35 65

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for henpeck meaning in English (6.2kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hen",
        "3": "peck",
        "notext": "1",
        "type": "endocentric"
      },
      "expansion": "hen + peck",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hen + peck.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "henpecks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "henpecking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "henpecked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "henpecked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "henpeck (third-person singular simple present henpecks, present participle henpecking, simple past and past participle henpecked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "hen‧peck"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "44 56",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English endocentric compounds",
          "parents": [
            "Endocentric compounds",
            "Compound terms",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 65",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "henpecked"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1945, Pierre Paul Ebeyer, Gems of the Vieux Carre, page 77",
          "text": "Well, one never hears a woman boast that she henpecks her husband, even though there are many, for the reason that she realizes it is wrong.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Betty Malz, Women in Tune, page 88",
          "text": "We have friends who thought it was cute when their daughter \"hen-pecked\" her husband. But, when their son married a spicy little gal who tried to hen-peck their son, they were very angry.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Jaqueline Girdner, A Sensitive Kind of Murder",
          "text": "Laura didn't have to hen-peck the man; he was a self-made wimp.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To nag persistently."
      ],
      "id": "en-henpeck-en-verb-6Q95M2n8",
      "links": [
        [
          "nag",
          "nag"
        ],
        [
          "persistently",
          "persistently"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "chiefly by a wife",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly by a wife) To nag persistently."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hen-peck"
        },
        {
          "word": "hen peck"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "nalkuttaa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "persécuter"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "barber"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "importuner"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "harceler"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "english": "gross",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "emmerder"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "english": "very gross",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "faire chier"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "english": "very gross",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "casser les couilles"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "importunare"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "punzecchiare"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Mandarin",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "唠叨"
        },
        {
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "haku"
        },
        {
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "hakuhaku"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "deržátʹ pod kablukom",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "держа́ть под каблуком"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "jorobar"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "fastidiar"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "importunar"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "hostigar"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "acosar"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "english": "very gross",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "joder"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to nag persistently",
          "word": "hunsa"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛnpɛk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛnˌpɛk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-henpeck.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/73/En-au-henpeck.ogg/En-au-henpeck.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/En-au-henpeck.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "henpeck"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hen",
        "3": "peck",
        "notext": "1",
        "type": "endocentric"
      },
      "expansion": "hen + peck",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hen + peck.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "henpecks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "henpeck (plural henpecks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "hen‧peck"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1953, B. V. P., Chronicles of Dewan Bahadur, Yama Dharma Rao, page 44",
          "text": "One can't swear that Dewan Bahadur Yama Dharma Rao was a henpeck ; nor could be said that the practical Lady was a cockpeck.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1985, James Mallahan Cain, Roy Hoopes, Michael Hinden, 60 Years of Journalism, page 40",
          "text": "The moment he allows the emphasis to swing the other way he becomes a sit-by-the-fire, a cockerel, a drone, a henpeck. A woman steps into this man's sphere at her peril.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A man who is meekly subservient to his wife."
      ],
      "id": "en-henpeck-en-noun-943gsjoR",
      "links": [
        [
          "man",
          "man"
        ],
        [
          "meekly",
          "meekly"
        ],
        [
          "subservient",
          "subservient"
        ],
        [
          "wife",
          "wife"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) A man who is meekly subservient to his wife."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛnpɛk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛnˌpɛk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-henpeck.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/73/En-au-henpeck.ogg/En-au-henpeck.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/En-au-henpeck.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "henpeck"
}
{
  "categories": [
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    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English endocentric compounds",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "henpecked"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hen",
        "3": "peck",
        "notext": "1",
        "type": "endocentric"
      },
      "expansion": "hen + peck",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hen + peck.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "henpecks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "henpecking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "henpecked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "henpecked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "henpeck (third-person singular simple present henpecks, present participle henpecking, simple past and past participle henpecked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "hen‧peck"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1945, Pierre Paul Ebeyer, Gems of the Vieux Carre, page 77",
          "text": "Well, one never hears a woman boast that she henpecks her husband, even though there are many, for the reason that she realizes it is wrong.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Betty Malz, Women in Tune, page 88",
          "text": "We have friends who thought it was cute when their daughter \"hen-pecked\" her husband. But, when their son married a spicy little gal who tried to hen-peck their son, they were very angry.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Jaqueline Girdner, A Sensitive Kind of Murder",
          "text": "Laura didn't have to hen-peck the man; he was a self-made wimp.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To nag persistently."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "nag",
          "nag"
        ],
        [
          "persistently",
          "persistently"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "chiefly by a wife",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly by a wife) To nag persistently."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛnpɛk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛnˌpɛk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-henpeck.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/73/En-au-henpeck.ogg/En-au-henpeck.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/En-au-henpeck.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "hen-peck"
    },
    {
      "word": "hen peck"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "nalkuttaa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "persécuter"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "barber"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "importuner"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "harceler"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "english": "gross",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "emmerder"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "english": "very gross",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "faire chier"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "english": "very gross",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "casser les couilles"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "importunare"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "punzecchiare"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Mandarin",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "唠叨"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "haku"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "hakuhaku"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "deržátʹ pod kablukom",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "держа́ть под каблуком"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "jorobar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "fastidiar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "importunar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "hostigar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "acosar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "english": "very gross",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "joder"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to nag persistently",
      "word": "hunsa"
    }
  ],
  "word": "henpeck"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English endocentric compounds",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hen",
        "3": "peck",
        "notext": "1",
        "type": "endocentric"
      },
      "expansion": "hen + peck",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hen + peck.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "henpecks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "henpeck (plural henpecks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "hyphenation": [
    "hen‧peck"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with rare senses",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1953, B. V. P., Chronicles of Dewan Bahadur, Yama Dharma Rao, page 44",
          "text": "One can't swear that Dewan Bahadur Yama Dharma Rao was a henpeck ; nor could be said that the practical Lady was a cockpeck.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1985, James Mallahan Cain, Roy Hoopes, Michael Hinden, 60 Years of Journalism, page 40",
          "text": "The moment he allows the emphasis to swing the other way he becomes a sit-by-the-fire, a cockerel, a drone, a henpeck. A woman steps into this man's sphere at her peril.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A man who is meekly subservient to his wife."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "man",
          "man"
        ],
        [
          "meekly",
          "meekly"
        ],
        [
          "subservient",
          "subservient"
        ],
        [
          "wife",
          "wife"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) A man who is meekly subservient to his wife."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛnpɛk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛnˌpɛk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-henpeck.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/73/En-au-henpeck.ogg/En-au-henpeck.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/En-au-henpeck.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "henpeck"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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