afflicted

American  

[uh-flik-tid] / əˈflɪk tɪd /

adjective

1. greatly distressed or troubled by bodily or mental pain.

   The severity of these symptoms predicts how well the afflicted individuals can live independently and maintain employment.

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noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. Usually the afflicted a person or persons distressed or troubled in such a way.

   Behind each of these killer diseases is the pain of despair, loneliness, and loss in the lives of the bereaved and the afflicted.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of afflict.

Other Word Forms

• afflictedness noun
• unafflicted adjective
• unafflictedly adverb
• unafflictedness noun

Etymology

Origin of afflicted

afflict ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

“As such, demand for credit among individuals and households afflicted by memory disorders may increase just as its supply is restricted.”

From MarketWatch

He wants nothing to do with the afflicted, no matter how peace-loving they appear.

From Los Angeles Times

In the mountain villages near Medellín, Colombia, an extraordinary percentage of residents are afflicted with a version of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

From The Wall Street Journal

I think if you look at sort of notions of Christian morality, it also goes to notions of sort of innocence, being afflicted by demonic forces.

From Salon

Catholicism is the faith I was baptized in, the one I embraced as a teen and that’s the bedrock for my moral code of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• depressed
• stricken