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

This partly explains, Cembalest writes, the deindustrialization that has afflicted its economy so debilitatingly in the last few years.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 9, 2026

But if England can avoid the early scoreboard slippage that has afflicted them in the past matches and stick tight to the hosts, they may be rewarded.

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026

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

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Related Words

• depressed
• stricken