as in to afflict
to cause persistent suffering to
plagued by a cough for all of last week
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in epidemic
a widespread disease resulting in a high rate of death
the Black Death was a plague that killed about one third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of plague
Andrew Zeng, Mercury News, 16 July 2025
Typically, the biscuits are the first thing that World Food Programme workers hand to Afghan families who are being forced out of Pakistan and back to their home country, which has been plagued by severe child malnutrition for years.
—Hana Kiros, The Atlantic, 15 July 2025
Stephanie Innes, AZCentral.com, 11 July 2025
An Arizona resident died on Friday from the pneumonic plague, Coconino County officials said.
—Sonam Sheth
gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for plague
Verb
Poverty and inequality continue to plague Silicon Valley, and are seen most acutely in housing, food insecurity and education, according to findings released Tuesday by San Jose State University researchers.
—Andrew Zeng, Mercury News, 16 July 2025
Typically, the biscuits are the first thing that World Food Programme workers hand to Afghan families who are being forced out of Pakistan and back to their home country, which has been plagued by severe child malnutrition for years.
—Hana Kiros, The Atlantic, 15 July 2025
Noun
Pneumonic plague is a severe lung infection, according to Coconino County health officials.
—Stephanie Innes, AZCentral.com, 11 July 2025
An Arizona resident died on Friday from the pneumonic plague, Coconino County officials said.
—Sonam Sheth
gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for plague
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plague
Verb
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The price transparency problem afflicting hospitals exemplifies the problem.—
Wayne Winegarden,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
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Her brother Aaron, afflicted with the same condition, had passed away in 2019.—
David Epstein,
ProPublica,
18 July 2025
Noun
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The agency’s models find that there is a 95% chance that the epidemic is growing, which means more states could start to see increases in infections.—
Alice Park,
Time,
24 July 2025
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But in the wake of the AIDS epidemic, and the disappearance of many urban cruising grounds in response to health ordinances and gentrification, an in-person practice shifted online.—
Emily Witt,
New Yorker,
24 July 2025
Verb
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On the other hand, there’s room in America for Afrikaners from South Africa, the white minority of Dutch origin who claim they are being persecuted and subject to violence inflicted by the majority Black population.—
Howard Simon,
The Orlando Sentinel,
15 July 2025
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We have been persecuted, exiled, shunned and murdered, simply for our beliefs.—
Jessica Tzikas,
Sun Sentinel,
10 July 2025
Noun
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While pestilence crept over the walls of cities and the countryside fell into desolation—many foreign conquerors of Europe knew how to fight and plunder but not to plow or sow—the monks preserved words.—
Bernd Roeck
June 16,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2025
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In recent years, the censorship and false narratives of woke cancel culture have transformed our great universities into greenhouses for this deadly and virulent pestilence.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
4 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Luis Leon, who received political asylum in the United States in 1987 after being tortured under Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's regime, misplaced his wallet that held his legal residency card, according to Allentown, Pennsylvania, newspaper The Morning Call.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 July 2025
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Editor’s Pick From assassination plots to torture programs, the agency’s darkest operations have always been at the President’s behest.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
16 July 2025
Noun
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All these conversations are being had now because of King Charles’ illness.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
21 July 2025
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Hospitals will close, Americans will go hungry and die of preventable illnesses, but at least there will be far more detention space for our neighbors.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
20 July 2025
Verb
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Today, some 30,000 Druze and Christians are besieged—without water, electricity, food, or medicine.—
Nuri Kino,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 July 2025
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Khader returned to Jenin briefly in December, smuggled in by friends while the camp was besieged by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in coördination with the Israeli military, as part of a crackdown on armed fighters.—
M. Z. Adnan,
New Yorker,
20 July 2025
Noun
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Other flowering plants, like yarrow and sweet alyssum, reduce pest issues by attracting beneficial insects that feed on veggie pests.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
15 July 2025
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Spruce, while good for snow-heavy regions like the Alps, are ill-suited to Germany's climate and susceptible to pests like bark beetles when weakened by heat.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Plague.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plague. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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