afflict
Americanverb (used with object)
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afflicts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
afflicted,
past participle, past
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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)
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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
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was afflictingprogressive
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were afflictingprogressive
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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
It makes for a wily and endearing tale, and in Adrian Nathan West’s excellent translation, the writing is remarkably untroubled by the stylistic sclerosis that can afflict writers with Vargas Llosa’s prestige.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 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
But this is not the sort of series that will leave evil unpunished or afflict the good with senseless tragedy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2024
The exciting synergy of institutional life in an all-purpose national metropolis was deemed less important than the dangerous corruptions likely to afflict a nexus of politicians and financiers.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Or is Juneteenth a celebration of the strength and excellence that both grew out of the great evil that slavery represented and in spite of it, an evil that still afflicts the nation in 2026?
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026
There are currently no approved drugs that can slow progression of the brutal neuro-degenerative disease, which afflicts about 40,000 Americans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 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
This language disorder afflicts more than 1 in 300 Americans each year, including Wendy Williams and Bruce Willis.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2024
Now the elms are stricken with a disease that afflicts them throughout their range, a disease so serious that many experts believe all efforts to save the elms will in the end be futile.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
"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
Several European nations have been afflicted by wildfires this summer during a succession of heatwaves.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Some of us are afflicted with longer memories of Broadway’s best than the instant sensation TikTok generation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
As a young doctor, Sabin became familiar with the suffering of those afflicted by polio following a 1931 outbreak and resolved to focus his research on the disease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
He, like Demeter, was afflicted, not because of grief for another, as she was, but because of his own pain.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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
Many of the forces weighing on downtown Dallas—from remote work to homelessness—are afflicting other urban core neighborhoods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
The conference ended with the passing of a multitude of resolutions dealing with China, India, Germany, Japan, and conditions afflicting various parts of the earth.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
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.
