What it means
To nag is to keep on at someone with the same reminder or complaint until they finally cave, lose it, or just do the thing for a quiet life. It’s rarely one big row, more a steady drip of comments about chores, promises, or obvious jobs getting ignored. You can also call the person doing it a nag, if you’re feeling brave.
Usage examples
"Mum keeps nagging me to fix the fence. Told her I’ll do it Saturday, and she goes, You’ve been saying that since Christmas, lad."
"My wife has been nagging me about the leaky tap in the bathroom for three weeks, I keep saying tomorrow, and now the ceiling downstairs has a damp patch the size of a dinner plate, and the plumber wants double the original quote."
"The boss nags about the timesheets every Friday afternoon, sends three reminders before lunch, and yet half the office still hands them in at five past five on a Monday morning when she has already started chasing again from her desk."
"Quit nagging me about the bins, I said I’ll take them out before the lorry comes."
"He kept nagging her to text when she got home, proper doing her head in by the fifth message."
Where it comes from
Old word, properly old. English has used nag as a verb since Middle English for pestering, grumbling, or picking at someone again and again. There’s also an older noun nag meaning a small horse, but the link between the horse sense and the scolding one isn’t nailed down, so no need to force a tidy fairy tale.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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