beleaguered

adjective

be·​lea·​guered bi-ˈlē-gərd How to pronounce beleaguered (audio)
bē-
: suffering or being subjected to constant or repeated trouble or harassment
an economically beleaguered city
With its life-support system cut off, the beleaguered college has embarked on a tortuous campaign to keep going.Lucinda Harper
… as he evolved from conformist to opportunist to reformer to revolutionary to beleaguered leader.Philip Taubman

Examples of beleaguered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
China is escalating efforts to collect taxes on investors’ global gains as the country faces fiscal pressure from slowing growth and a beleaguered property sector. J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 17 Aug. 2025 These revelations, first reported by Bloomberg, triggered an immediate surge in Intel’s stock—jumping by as much as 8.9% in late Thursday trading as investors responded to the possibility of government intervention and support for the beleaguered firm. Nino Paoli, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2025 Top grade this week : Health care was the best-performing sector this week, and the group was near the top of the leaderboard even before a 13F filing from Berkshire Hathaway revealed that the company had purchased a stake in the beleaguered UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter. Jeff Marks, CNBC, 15 Aug. 2025 Or perhaps Munich was the better analogy, with Trump in the role of Neville Chamberlain, ceding a beleaguered ally’s territory as the price of an illusory peace? Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for beleaguered

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of beleaguer

First Known Use

1644, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of beleaguered was in 1644

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Cite this Entry

“Beleaguered.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beleaguered. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

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