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
Words Nearby afflict
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use afflict in a sentence
Covid was diabolically crafted to afflict a world in which we were already raw, sore and constantly rubbing up against other, generating friction as we circulated both globally and locally.
The virus caused more than a pandemic. It set us all ablaze. | Philip Kennicott | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostAll democracies must try to counteract forms of “market censorship” that afflict profit-driven systems, favoring some voices while filtering out others.
The Fairness Doctrine won’t solve our problems — but it can foster needed debate | Victor Pickard | February 4, 2021 | Washington PostFevers, I have learned, are far more lethal when they afflict nations.
The U.S. Capitol Attacked Reminded Me of the 1979 US Embassy Seizure and What Happens When Extremism Wins | Roya Hakakian | January 19, 2021 | TimeThe act gives pharmaceutical companies tax credits, market exclusivity, and other incentives to develop drugs for “orphan” diseases, which are defined as illnesses that afflict fewer than 200,000 people in the US.
How to fix the orphan drug problem driving up medical costs | Nicole Hassoun | January 14, 2021 | QuartzThey had all been infected by a form of pox that afflicts cows but is relatively harmless to humans, and Jenner surmised that the cowpox had given them immunity to smallpox.
mRNA Technology Gave Us the First COVID-19 Vaccines. It Could Also Upend the Drug Industry | Walter Isaacson | January 11, 2021 | Time
He wanted to give a voice to the voiceless, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.
Obama Administration and Sotloff Family Battle Over Blame for Journalist’s Kidnapping | Josh Rogin | September 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey want to take on authority and comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable and all that hoo-ha.
Tina Brown: So performance anxiety must afflict writers as well as actors.
Philip Roth Unbound: Interview Transcript | The Daily Beast Video | October 30, 2009 | THE DAILY BEASTThe first person to consult, the last to afflict—a mother—should not be the victim of her daughter's feelings.
The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness | Florence HartleyHad this been done, I should not have been here to-night—we would have had none of the troubles which afflict the country now.
Portrait and Biography of Parson Brownlow, The Tennessee Patriot | William Gannaway BrownlowThe grand policy of theologians is to blow hot and to blow cold, to afflict and to console, to frighten and to reassure.
Superstition In All Ages (1732) | Jean MeslierIt is from this peculiar mental constitution that arise the woes that now afflict you.
Letters To Eugenia | Paul Henri Thiry HolbachThe disordered currency of the country to which he belongs does not follow and afflict him abroad.
Select Speeches of Daniel Webster | Daniel Webster
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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