afflict
Americanverb (used with object)
-
afflicts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
afflicted,
past participle, past
-
afflicting
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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afflicternoun
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overafflictverb (used with object)
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preafflictverb (used with object)
-
afflictiveadjective
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self-afflictingadjective
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unafflictingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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afflictsimple
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afflictssimple
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have afflictedperfect
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has afflictedperfect
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am afflictingprogressive
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are afflictingprogressive
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is afflictingprogressive
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have been afflictingperfect progressive
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has been afflictingperfect progressive
Past
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afflictedsimple
-
had afflictedperfect
-
was afflictingprogressive
-
were afflictingprogressive
-
had been afflictingperfect progressive
Future
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; see inflict
Explanation
To afflict is to cause suffering, pain, or misery. It’s often associated with medical conditions. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is most likely to afflict someone who spends many hours every day typing on our computers. We get afflict from the Latin word affligere, meaning “to strike down,” which is an old fashioned way of saying to get sick, or to have a condition of some kind. You could argue that chronic indecision was the main problem to afflict Hamlet, or that saying "um," "like," and "you know" are speech tics that afflict teens.
Vocabulary lists containing afflict
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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.
See Examples For:
The cost of common conditions that afflict retirees — from chronic illness to cardiovascular disease to cognitive decline — can deplete your savings with alarming speed.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
So why not expect a similar awful fate to afflict China as the aftershocks of its 2020 real-estate crash reverberate?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
However distanced you may feel from these effects, it’s worth pointing out that historically, what happens to Black workers comes to afflict all of America.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2025
Where since the 1980s, Father John Moretta has counseled parishioners at Resurrection Church in Boyle Heights on the troubles that afflict their neighborhood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025
I sometimes wonder which of these will afflict me, later; because I know one of them will.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Some 93% of the world’s children, she said, live in polluted air, and pollution hits home with her own kids, and the asthma that disproportionately afflicts L.A.’s kids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
Huntington’s disease afflicts about 40,000 patients in the U.S., and there are no current treatments that slow progression.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
But if Ireland’s radically asymmetrical relationship with the U.S. is distinctive, the crisis it represents is global and afflicts many other small and medium-size nations.
From Salon ● Mar. 16, 2025
To get coverage they need support, and to get support they need coverage - the vicious circle that afflicts all but the two main parties in Westminster.
From BBC ● May 31, 2024
“Or tell her that melancholy afflicts me still.”
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
"If it's 35 degrees outside, it's over 40 degrees inside," said the 65-year-old, complaining that ageing residents were being afflicted with increasing headaches.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
"I don't know of any other center in the world that trains exorcists," Syquia said of the two-storey facility built largely with donations from local families of the previously afflicted.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
Antonelli took pole in China despite the same front wing problem as afflicted Russell.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
“May this persecution, like the thorns that afflicted Paul, sharpen our courage and make our faith as solid as a rock.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
He died at age seventy-two of kidney cancer, a disease that afflicted many of the sailors who survived the K-19 disaster.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
The rolling, forested hills of Kentucky’s bourbon country are ground zero for the slowdown afflicting the U.S. alcohol industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 2026
What follows are the factors afflicting each region or market.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 17, 2026
Their bread-and-butter is comforting the most comfortable by afflicting the most afflicted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026
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 ● Jan. 12, 2026
Tijuana’s greatest tourist attraction was its racetrack, which benefited from the hard times afflicting the racing industry in the United States.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
