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

He was probably afflicted by epilepsy, a condition that usually went unnamed to avoid public shame.

From The Wall Street Journal

Alouette’s attempts to reclaim her work result in her consignment to Salpetrière, a much-dreaded place for the mentally afflicted, where the cruel guards may or may not be saner than the inmates.

From Los Angeles Times

Random abdominal pains have afflicted me since college — the price of a stressful job, I always figured.

From Los Angeles Times

Their bread-and-butter is comforting the most comfortable by afflicting the most afflicted.

From Los Angeles Times

I’d read in the newspapers about cholera, typhoid, and all sorts of other plagues that afflicted our city.

From Literature

Related Words

• depressed
• stricken