beleaguer

[bih-lee-ger]

verb (used with object)

1. to surround with military forces.

2. to surround or beset, as with troubles.

   Synonyms: hector, plague, annoy, vex, vex, bother, badger, pester, harass

beleaguer

/ bɪˈliːɡə /

verb

1. to trouble persistently; harass

2. to lay siege to

Other Word Forms

• beleaguerer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of beleaguer¹

First recorded in 1580–90; be- + leaguer ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of beleaguer¹

C16: from _be- + _leaguer ¹

Example Sentences

The beleaguered bride, in her dress, perspired through her makeup on a warm afternoon.

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The deal has lifted beleaguered drug stocks by pointing a way for companies to remove the threat of tariffs and deal with U.S. pricing pressures.

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The looming economic blow comes as Haiti’s beleaguered government struggles to contain gangs that have taken over nearly the entire capital, Port-au-Prince.

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Among those who criticized the decision, which was reversed by South Carolina’s Supreme Court, was Harmeet Dhillon, the San Francisco attorney who now heads the Justice Department’s beleaguered Civil Rights Division.

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The football might be worryingly similar at Manchester United this season but as Sunderland prepare to come to Old Trafford and heap more pressure on beleaguered head coach Ruben Amorim, one thing has certainly changed.

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Related Words

• annoy 
• bedevil 
• beset 
• plague