afflict
verb (used with object)
to distress with mental or bodily pain; trouble greatly or grievously.
had been afflicting
-
past perfect progressiveof afflict.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By Labor Day weekend, whatever had been afflicting the crows spilled over to the zoo birds: A cormorant swam in perpetual loops, and the flamingos’ necks bent like wilting tulips.
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2020
The same thought had been afflicting Beverly with its probabilities for twenty-four hours and more.
From Beverly of Graustark by George Barr McCutcheon
Were even the guns and their machinery affected by this strange languor which had been afflicting both men and animals for the last day or two?
From The World Masters by George Chetwynd Griffith
Could he have been told that for close upon twenty years he had been afflicting his neighbours with the pleasantries he found so enjoyable, his answer had undoubtedly been 'The bigger numskulls they!'
From Corporal Sam and Other Stories by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
It revived and fastened upon me the disease which had been afflicting me, but which, up to that night, had been steadily disappearing.
From Life on the Mississippi, Part 7. by Mark Twain
