nagging

adjective

nag·​ging ˈna-giŋ 

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

b

: causing continual or recurring pain or discomfort

He'd had a nagging headache all day.

a nagging injury

naggingly

ˈna-giŋ-lē 

adverb

There has always been something naggingly sad about Bonds' career …

—Tim Keown

… something about the book feels naggingly familiar, as if you know how it will end before you start …

—Debra Pickett

Synonyms

• discomforting
• discomposing
• disquieting
• distressing
• disturbing
• nasty
• perturbing
• troublesome
• troubling
• troublous
• unsettling
• upsetting
• worrisome

Examples of nagging in a Sentence

I have this nagging feeling that something will still go wrong

Recent Examples on the Web

Brown is dealing with a nagging hip flexor issue, and he is set to have a second MRI for the injury. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 3 Nov. 2024

Advertisement The only nagging drawback to Morris’ otherwise crisp and chilling indictment is, unfortunately, not a small one: an interspersed narrative made with actors, centered on a Guatemalan mother and son making their way into the U.S. and caught in the separation system. —Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2024

Two years later, Dana Reeve was planning a return to singing but a nagging cough kept derailing her rehearsals. —Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 21 Sep. 2024

With that reveal, the nagging artificiality of the blueberries scent in the theater clicked into place. —James Grebey, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined at sense 1