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

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. 7 LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY (Doubleday, $29). —Becky Meloan, Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2023

Researchers at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., and the University of Sussex, Brighton, England, have created prototypes of new environmentally sustainable devices that can monitor blood pressure and heartbeat, or heal persistent afflictions such as diabetic ulcers. —IEEE Spectrum, 22 Apr. 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. 6 LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY (Doubleday, $29). —Becky Meloan, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2023

In popular psychology, millions of individuals have been taught to perceive afflictions like anxiety, depression, and ADHD as the result of chemical imbalances. —Jason Blakely, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023

No other style affliction ruins a guy’s outfit so quickly (or makes walking so uncomfortable). —Jamie Waters, WSJ, 4 Aug. 2023

Florida can still be saved, but for this to happen, the state must save itself, or be saved, from this affliction. —Time, 12 July 2023

The Chinese economy’s affliction with economic long COVID presents an opportunity for U.S. policymakers to change strategy. —Adam S. Posen, Foreign Affairs, 2 Aug. 2023

The bassist had endured numerous afflictions in recent years and personal tragedy in 2016 when his wife, Lana Rae Meisner, accidentally shot herself and died. —Hillel Italie, Fortune, 29 July 2023

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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