as in to plague
to cause persistent suffering to
the villagers were gaunt and sickly, harrowed by years of disease and starvation
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Recent Examples of harrow
Before the big race, the track was harrowed, bringing it to a better and drier racing surface.
—
John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2025
The research fellow who met me, Birte, was in her forties, and appeared as if she had been harrowed by her work.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Plus, Shin Ha-young is given little to do in the second half of the series despite her effortless shift from warm third wheel to harrowed and weary abuse victim.
—Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2023
That same humble deity, in the course of putting on humanity, had obtained a glimpse of the conditions on earth—poverty, needless estrangement, a stubborn pattern of rich ruling over poor—and decided to incite a revolution that would harrow Hell.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2020
John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2025
The research fellow who met me, Birte, was in her forties, and appeared as if she had been harrowed by her work.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Plus, Shin Ha-young is given little to do in the second half of the series despite her effortless shift from warm third wheel to harrowed and weary abuse victim.
—Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2023
That same humble deity, in the course of putting on humanity, had obtained a glimpse of the conditions on earth—poverty, needless estrangement, a stubborn pattern of rich ruling over poor—and decided to incite a revolution that would harrow Hell.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harrow
Verb
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The high school exam board, CBSE, has faced public outrage over an electronic marking system plagued with technical glitches, during which students said answers were wrongly marked or, in some cases, answer sheets were omitted entirely.—
Mithil Aggarwal,
NBC news,
20 June 2026
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The department said that all reopenings of the Reflecting Pool have been plagued by algae blooms and that vacuuming up the algae would take a couple of days.—
Lalee Ibssa,
ABC News,
19 June 2026
Verb
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Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease caused by a virus that primarily and most severely afflicts children.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
8 June 2026
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Joyce said problems that afflict Washington require a deeper, more systematic change.—
Chase Hunter,
Mercury News,
3 June 2026
Verb
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Supporting people who have too often been, and continue to be, persecuted and othered would be a direct way to address the suffering.—
Grant Brisbee,
New York Times,
14 June 2026
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It's partially inspired by director Benjamin Christensen's research on the German text Malleus Maleficarum, a guide to witchcraft for inquisitors looking to persecute its perpetrators.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
5 June 2026
Verb
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Meanwhile, Harris welcomed her endorsement by Dick Cheney, who was not a very popular vice president but was a zealous defender of torturing Muslims.—
Ta-Nehisi Coates,
Vanity Fair,
15 June 2026
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Last year, a German court sentenced a Syrian doctor to life imprisonment for torture and war crimes in his Syrian homeland on Monday for killing two people and torturing nine in Syria between 2011 and 2012.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
15 June 2026
Verb
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In recent years, Trae Young has repeatedly tormented the Knicks at the famed Madison Square Garden, turning clutch shots and postgame showmanship into vulgar chants from New York fans.—
Chantz Martin OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
17 June 2026
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The result is borderline Succession-esque in its level of absurdity, and D’Arcy, so reliably tormented, gets to show sides of the character that have never even been hinted at before.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
15 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harrow. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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