hectoring

adj, noun — 2 senses

hectoring

adj

Etymology From hector + -ing.

1

That hectors; intimidating or domineering.

  • The types that started using “-maxxing” in earnest often did so with such hectoring self-seriousness that it was impossible not to parody.2025 October 11, Nitsuh Abebe, “The Suffix That Tells Us to Ruthlessly Optimize Everything”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Oct 2025:
Derived terms
hectoringly

hectoring

noun

Etymology From hector + -ing.

1

The act of one who hectors, or acts blusteringly.

  • their hectorings against an absent enemy, and their pusillanimity on his approach1809, Diedrich Knickerbocker [pseudonym; Washington Irving], A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), New York, N.Y.: Inskeep & Bradford, […], →OCLC:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.