affliction

noun

af·flic·tion ə-ˈflik-shən

Synonyms of affliction next

: a cause of persistent pain or distress

a mysterious affliction

: great suffering

felt empathy with their affliction

: the state of being afflicted by something that causes suffering

her affliction with polio

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 The neighborhood occupies about a square mile along the Bay shore, severed from downtown and the Tenderloin — and their afflictions — by the city’s famous hills. —

Jesse Barron, New York Times, 16 Nov. 2023 As the days grow darker earlier in northern latitudes, an affliction takes hold. —

WIRED, 15 Nov. 2023 Generations of a family from South India’s Malabar Coast all contend with the same affliction — at least one member of each generation dies by drowning. 9 TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW (Knopf, $28). —

Becky Meloan, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2023 Generations of a family from South India’s Malabar Coast all contend with the same affliction — at least one member of each generation dies by drowning. 8 ROMAN STORIES (Knopf, $27). —

Becky Meloan, Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2023 The Padres succumbed, however, to a long illness: A maddening inability to hit with runners in scoring position, an affliction that hitched its wobbly wagon to baseball’s worst performance in one-run and extra-inning games. —

Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Sep. 2023 As is the case for most modern afflictions, there’s an app for that. —

Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 14 Sep. 2023 Your older brother, the medical student, calls your mother’s affliction a neurosis. —

Viet Thanh Nguyen, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2023 Generations of a family from South India’s Malabar Coast all contend with the same affliction — at least one member of each generation dies by drowning. 8 THE FRAUD (Penguin Press, $29). —

Becky Meloan, Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'affliction.' 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 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

Time Traveler

The first known use of affliction was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century