affliction

noun

af·​flic·​tion ə-ˈflik-shən 

1

: a cause of persistent pain or distress

a mysterious affliction

2

: great suffering

felt empathy with their affliction

3

: the state of being afflicted by something that causes suffering

her affliction with polio

Synonyms

• agony
• anguish
• distress
• excruciation
• hurt
• misery
• pain
• rack
• strait(s)
• torment
• torture
• travail
• tribulation
• woe

Examples of affliction in a Sentence

She lost her sight and is now learning to live with her affliction.

He died from a mysterious affliction.

Recent Examples on the Web

This is a fitness affliction shaped by my genetics, not a reflection of my laziness and hate of stretching. —Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 14 Aug. 2024

In the surrealist drama Fishtank, which won the grand prize in the Tribeca Chanel Through Her Lens program, a young woman named Jules (Tiffany Chu), coming to terms with her year-long sobriety, finds herself with a new affliction: vomiting up goldfish when triggered by anxiety. —Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2024

Men Have Called Her Crazy is a story about recovery, and Tendler seems to see men as one of her foremost afflictions. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 16 Aug. 2024

These often-invisible afflictions can effectively incapacitate you or, at least, impede your ability to enjoy all kinds of things other people take for granted. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English affliccioun "misery, distress, self-inflicted pain," borrowed from Anglo-French afflicion, borrowed from Late Latin afflīctiōn-, afflīctiō, from Latin afflīgere "to afflict" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

affliction

noun

af·​flic·​tion ə-ˈflik-shən 

1

: the state of being afflicted

2

: something that causes pain or unhappiness