as in to plague
to cause persistent suffering to
the South was afflicted by a severe drought he's been afflicted by nightmares ever since the accident
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of afflict
Dementia currently afflicts over 55 million people worldwide; in the US, more than 6 million people — about 1 out of 10 of those 65 years or older — live with dementia.
—
Bryan Walsh, Vox, 5 Apr. 2025
Admirers in the crowd kept interrupting him and asking for photos, a nuisance that, for whatever reason, didn’t afflict the rest of us.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
The syndrome could afflict men as well as women, and it wasn’t limited to athletes with eating disorders.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 10 Mar. 2025
In the first trailer for Universal’s live-action reimagining of Dreamworks’ 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon, there’s no hint that the CGI is going in the gritty, overly lifelike direction that has afflicted other live-action remakes of years past.
—Michael Savio, Vulture, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for afflict
Bryan Walsh, Vox, 5 Apr. 2025
Admirers in the crowd kept interrupting him and asking for photos, a nuisance that, for whatever reason, didn’t afflict the rest of us.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
The syndrome could afflict men as well as women, and it wasn’t limited to athletes with eating disorders.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 10 Mar. 2025
In the first trailer for Universal’s live-action reimagining of Dreamworks’ 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon, there’s no hint that the CGI is going in the gritty, overly lifelike direction that has afflicted other live-action remakes of years past.
—Michael Savio, Vulture, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for afflict
Cite this Entry
“Afflict.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/afflict. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share