persecution
Americannoun
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the act of persecuting.
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the state of being persecuted.
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a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate people based on their membership in a religious, ethnic, social, or racial group.
the persecutions of Christians by the Romans.
noun
Usage
What does persecution mean? Persecution is the act of harassing or oppressing a person or a group of people, especially because of their identity. Throughout history, people have faced persecution because of their religion, race, ethnicity, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and many other factors. Example: People have been using the forum to call attention to the ongoing persecution of Muslims.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of persecution
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English persecucio(u)n, from Late Latin persecūtiōn-, stem of persecūtiō (in Latin: “prosecution”), from Latin persecūt(us) “followed thoroughly, prosecuted” (past participle of persequī “to follow thoroughly, prosecute”; see persecute) + -iō -ion
Explanation
Persecution is unfair or abusive treatment toward a person or group of people, such as the persecution of someone who is different by calling him or her rude names and making threats. The noun persecution is related to persecute, which comes from Latin persecut-, meaning “followed with hostility.” Persecution means hassling or singling out a person or group because of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or social status. In many schools, the persecution of students by bullies has resulted in a zero-tolerance policy for such despicable behavior.
Vocabulary lists containing persecution
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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"Bonne Annee," Vocabulary from the personal essay
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Vocabulary from "Stop Expecting Games to Build Empathy" by Julie Muncy
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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:
US-based rights group ChinaAid, which monitors relgious persecution, confirmed Jin, also known as Ezra Jin, had arrived in Los Angeles in the US following his release.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
One of us is a Latter-day Saint, a Utah farm boy, shaped by tales of pioneers and the generations that endured persecution to settle in a place where we could flourish.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
"No person should be returned to a place where they face persecution, torture or serious threats to their dignity and safety," said Oliver Barker-Vormawor, senior partner at Ghanaian law firm Merton & Everett LLP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
People fleeing persecution because of their political beliefs, gender or sexuality, and how they pray will face certain peril.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
“I know I’m right. You’ve got a bad persecution complex. You think people are trying to harm you. “People are trying to harm me.”
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
“I think of Germany, Hitler and the persecutions there, I thought that was just history,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2025
“Have the merciless persecutions and unutterable tortures of the dark ages not yet opened their eyes and enlarged their heart for the alleviation of their fellow men’s woes?”
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2025
What may help reduce the persecutions, as in South Africa, is providing pensions to the elderly, which appears to confer social protection.
From Scientific American ● May 31, 2023
In Africa, these persecutions prompted many orthodox Christians to flee the relative security of the Nile and seek refuge in the western desert.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
