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afflict

[uh-flikt]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to distress with mental or bodily pain; trouble greatly or grievously: to be afflicted with arthritis.
  2. Obsolete.
    1. to overthrow; defeat.
    2. to humble.
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Origin of afflict

1350–1400; Middle English afflicten < Latin afflīctus distressed, past participle of afflīgere to cast down (af- af- + flīg- knock + -tus past participle suffix); replacing Middle English aflight < Middle French aflit < L. See inflict
Related formsaf·flict·ed·ness, nounaf·flict·er, nouno·ver·af·flict, verb (used with object)pre·af·flict, verb (used with object)self-af·flict·ing, adjectiveun·af·flict·ed, adjectiveun·af·flict·ed·ly, adverbun·af·flict·ed·ness, nounun·af·flict·ing, adjective
Can be confusedafflict infect inflict

Synonyms

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1. vex, harass, torment, plague.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

depressedstrickencursedimpairedsufferinggrieveddoleful

Examples from the Web for afflicted

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • She was also afflicted with a high color, and a chronic eruption of diamonds.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • Mary regarded the afflicted creature with that sympathy born only of experience.

    Within the Law

    Marvin Dana

  • How silly of you, Toinette, to be so afflicted at his death.

  • Mrs. Beaufort, languid and afflicted with headache, said little.

    Night and Morning, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • In politics one afflicted with self-respect and addicted to the vice of independence.

British Dictionary definitions for afflicted

afflict

verb
  1. (tr) to cause suffering or unhappiness to; distress greatly
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Derived Formsafflictive, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Latin afflictus, past participle of afflīgere to knock against, from flīgere to knock, to strike
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

Word Origin and History for afflicted

n.

"person or persons in constant suffering of body or mind," 1650s, noun use of past participle adjective from afflict.

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afflict

v.

late 14c., "to cast down," from Old French aflicter, from Latin afflictare "to damage, harass, torment," frequentative of affligere (past participle afflictus) "to dash down, overthrow," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + fligere (past participle flictus) "to strike," from PIE root *bhlig- "to strike" (cf. Greek phlibein "to press, crush," Czech blizna "scar," Welsh blif "catapult"). Transferred meaning of "trouble, distress," is first recorded 1530s. Related: Afflicted; afflicting.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper