The disease afflicts an estimated two million people every year.
the South was afflicted by a severe drought
Recent Examples on the WebSolutions for families that can't afford to properly cool their homes are also outdated, failing to account for the long periods of intense heat afflicting parts of the U.S. during the summer.—Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 3 June 2024 Their delay was exacerbating shortages of feed afflicting livestock producers in the United States.—Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, 2 June 2024 Share [Findings] A fungal parasite that afflicts the reproductive organs of millipedes was named in honor of Twitter.—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024 The original game was lauded for its depiction of psychosis, a condition that afflicted its protagonist who was deemed cursed for her hallucinations and disconnect from reality.—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for afflict
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'afflict.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English afflihten "to excite, become distressed," probably verbal derivative of affliht, aflyght "disturbed, upset," borrowed from Latin afflīctus, past participle of afflīgere "to knock or strike down, ruin, distress severely," from ad-ad- + flīgere "to strike down" — more at profligate entry 1
Share