nag vs pester

nag

verb
  • To bother or disturb persistently in any way. 

  • To bother with persistent thoughts or memories. 

  • Anyone would think that I nagged at you, Amanda! (From Amanda! by Robin Klein) 

  • a nagging pain in his left knee 

  • To repeatedly remind or complain to (someone) in an annoying way, often about insignificant or unnecessary matters. 

  • The notion that he forgot something nagged him the rest of the day. 

noun
  • Someone or something that nags. 

  • A persistent, bothersome thought or worry. 

  • An old, useless horse. 

  • A repeated complaint or reminder. 

  • A small horse; a pony. 

pester

verb
  • To bother, harass, or annoy persistently. 

noun
  • A bother or nuisance. 

How often have the words nag and pester occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )