stricken
Americanverb
adjective
-
hit or wounded by a weapon, missile, or the like.
-
beset or afflicted, as with disease, trouble, or sorrow.
stricken areas; a stricken family.
-
deeply affected, as with grief, fear, or other emotions.
-
characterized by or showing the effects of affliction, trouble, misfortune, a mental blow, etc..
stricken features.
adjective
-
laid low, as by disease or sickness
-
deeply affected, as by grief, love, etc
-
archaic wounded or injured
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stricken
First recorded in 1530–40
Explanation
Stricken means "overwhelmed by emotion." When you saw the pretty new girl at school smiling at you, you were so stricken you walked right into a wall. Stricken means "affected," whether it's in a good way — being so stricken by spring fever that you can't stop singing and goofing around — or bad, like being stricken by a real fever and a sore throat and the chills and. . . you get the idea. You can also be stricken by fear, like a family so stricken by fear of bedbugs that they cancelled their hotel reservation and just slept in their car.
Vocabulary lists containing stricken
The Outsiders
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
List 6
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Bud, Not Buddy
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
The stricken area is comprised mostly of towns and villages with few, if any, high-rise buildings.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
The delay could make it more difficult for ill people to remember all the foods they ate, “down to a single ingredient in a salad,” before they were stricken, Rimoin said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Residents stricken by the parasite told the BBC it was "the most painful thing I've ever been through in my life".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
We still don’t know what exactly is driving our national outbreak of cyclosporiasis, the parasitic infection that has stricken thousands of Americans with explosive diarrhea.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Mama looked stricken, so upset that Hanako had to look away.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
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.
