verb
Other Word Forms
- afflicter noun
- afflictive adjective
- overafflict verb (used with object)
- preafflict verb (used with object)
- self-afflicting adjective
- unafflicting adjective
Etymology
Origin of afflict
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English afflicten, from Latin afflīctus “distressed,” past participle of afflīgere “to cast down” ( af- af- + flīg- “knock” + -tus past participle suffix); replacing Middle English aflight, from Middle French aflit, from Latin; inflict
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their bread-and-butter is comforting the most comfortable by afflicting the most afflicted.
From Los Angeles Times
I’d read in the newspapers about cholera, typhoid, and all sorts of other plagues that afflicted our city.
From Literature
Their case is helped by the crisis afflicting Dundee University and evidence that much of further education is heading deep into the red and facing possible closures.
From BBC
Louise, 15, is “afflicted by the plight of the middle child,” in that everyone ignores her even in the best of times.
“As such, demand for credit among individuals and households afflicted by memory disorders may increase just as its supply is restricted.”
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
