afflict
to distress with mental or bodily pain; trouble greatly or grievously: to be afflicted with migraine headaches.
Obsolete.
to overthrow; defeat.
to humble.
Origin of afflict
1Other words for afflict
Other words from afflict
- af·flict·er, noun
- o·ver·af·flict, verb (used with object)
- pre·af·flict, verb (used with object)
- self-af·flict·ing, adjective
- un·af·flict·ing, adjective
Words that may be confused with afflict
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use afflict in a sentence
More disturbingly, it reflects a conspiratorial cast that often afflicts Palestinian renderings of the Jewish past.
The intimate knowledge of death hangs heavily in these stories and afflicts both the righteous and the wicked in equal proportion.
Apparently, this fatal attraction afflicts men as well as women.
While Islamism is hardly mentioned, a full chapter is devoted to the psychological stress that afflicts all Army doctors.
Legal-reform movements can undergo the same boom and bust cycle that afflicts certain sectors of the economy.
An Argument Against Legal Extremism | Eric Posner, Robert Silver | February 17, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
Up, still in a constant pain in my back, which much afflicts me with fear of the consequence of it.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete | Samuel PepysIt is rather a drawl that afflicts the ear than a nasal twang.
American Sketches | Charles WhibleyIt is the inconsistency of the thing that strikes and afflicts us.
Shall we have so little courage, and shall that uncertainty of serving two masters which afflicts your heart affect mine too?
The love letters of Abelard and Heloise | Peter AbelardForester, I see how this news afflicts you; I judged you too well to think that your own dashed hopes entered into your sorrow.
The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II) | Charles James Lever
British Dictionary definitions for afflict
/ (əˈflɪkt) /
(tr) to cause suffering or unhappiness to; distress greatly
Origin of afflict
1Derived forms of afflict
- afflictive, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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