as in plagued
to cause persistent suffering to
the South was afflicted by a severe drought he's been afflicted by nightmares ever since the accident
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in troubled
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Recent Examples of afflicted
David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 12 June 2022
For nearly five years, the lingering hope of the pundit class (and, notably, the Biden campaign) was that the Trump fever would eventually burn itself out and those so afflicted would awake from its throes eager to be normal again.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2022
Regarding Cuba now, there seems to be an additional Russian objective: weakening U.S. and Canadian intelligence on the island by forcing the evacuation of afflicted spies and diplomatic personnel.
—Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 12 Apr. 2021
Some of the bikers pouring into the area are coming from distant states far more afflicted.
—CBS News, 10 Aug. 2020
Kroger officials said McMullen had planned to remove his mask for the event, which was not attended by Pence's afflicted press secretary Katie Miller who stayed in Washington.
—Alexander Coolidge, Cincinnati.com, 11 May 2020
Symptoms of the illness are similar to pneumonia, although videos have been posted that purportedly show afflicted people collapsing on the street, bleeding from their mouths, and being treated by doctors wearing hazmat suits.
—Zachary Halaschak, Washington Examiner, 25 Jan. 2020
Mealy bugs can be a real problem, not just for the afflicted plant but for neighboring, healthy houseplants.
—Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2019
Making a compelling financial case to fight climate change and to help the most afflicted demands a rigorous accounting of its effects.
—Umair Irfan, Vox, 9 Oct. 2018
Jorge L. Ortiz, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
But Thomas was afflicted by health troubles on the 26-56 Nets last year.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
The World Health Organization states that in 2021 alone, nearly 57 million people were afflicted with some form of dementia.
—Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
The most vulnerable — starving children, people afflicted with leprosy, and pregnant women without the remotest possibility of healthcare — always needed tending to; that colonial reality was intact.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 27 Aug. 2025
Fortunately for the Red Sox, their eternal rivals were afflicted with a similar malady.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
One in four would be afflicted with the disease.
—Rustin Dodd, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
June was unusually warm, and a major heatwave afflicted nearly a third of the population late in the month, and July offered little relief.
—Chris Mooney, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2025
In 1982, most of the crew members on a flight from Lisbon to Boston were afflicted with stomach pains and cramps after indulging in the same dessert during the flight.
—Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 16 Aug. 2025
Verb
The afflicted man instead went to a Dawson hospital, where he was fed only raw potatoes and charged $10 a day for the privilege.
—David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 12 June 2022
For nearly five years, the lingering hope of the pundit class (and, notably, the Biden campaign) was that the Trump fever would eventually burn itself out and those so afflicted would awake from its throes eager to be normal again.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2022
Regarding Cuba now, there seems to be an additional Russian objective: weakening U.S. and Canadian intelligence on the island by forcing the evacuation of afflicted spies and diplomatic personnel.
—Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 12 Apr. 2021
Some of the bikers pouring into the area are coming from distant states far more afflicted.
—CBS News, 10 Aug. 2020
Kroger officials said McMullen had planned to remove his mask for the event, which was not attended by Pence's afflicted press secretary Katie Miller who stayed in Washington.
—Alexander Coolidge, Cincinnati.com, 11 May 2020
Symptoms of the illness are similar to pneumonia, although videos have been posted that purportedly show afflicted people collapsing on the street, bleeding from their mouths, and being treated by doctors wearing hazmat suits.
—Zachary Halaschak, Washington Examiner, 25 Jan. 2020
Mealy bugs can be a real problem, not just for the afflicted plant but for neighboring, healthy houseplants.
—Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2019
Making a compelling financial case to fight climate change and to help the most afflicted demands a rigorous accounting of its effects.
—Umair Irfan, Vox, 9 Oct. 2018
Adjective
Griffin, who does clinical work in Long Island, New York, said his sister-in-law is in her 40s and quite wary of long COVID, the enduring, debilitating health issues that have afflicted millions of Americans who contracted the coronavirus.
—Jorge L. Ortiz, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
But Thomas was afflicted by health troubles on the 26-56 Nets last year.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
The World Health Organization states that in 2021 alone, nearly 57 million people were afflicted with some form of dementia.
—Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
The most vulnerable — starving children, people afflicted with leprosy, and pregnant women without the remotest possibility of healthcare — always needed tending to; that colonial reality was intact.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 27 Aug. 2025
Fortunately for the Red Sox, their eternal rivals were afflicted with a similar malady.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
One in four would be afflicted with the disease.
—Rustin Dodd, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
June was unusually warm, and a major heatwave afflicted nearly a third of the population late in the month, and July offered little relief.
—Chris Mooney, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2025
In 1982, most of the crew members on a flight from Lisbon to Boston were afflicted with stomach pains and cramps after indulging in the same dessert during the flight.
—Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 16 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for afflicted
Verb
-
By surviving more than 3,500 cycles, the material demonstrated an unusually high degree of durability for this class of batteries, which are often plagued by rapid capacity fade.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Yet, the industry is plagued by low wages and high turnover rates.—
Jennifer Jay Palumbo,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Looking for role models, troubled young men find Andrew Tate.—
Jay Stahl,
USA Today,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Laporta has repeatedly said that returning to the Camp Nou, which will have a capacity of 105,000 when finished, as soon as possible is crucial to boosting their troubled finances.—
Pol Ballus,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
More and more, people who have loyally served Putin’s system are being persecuted, mainly on the grounds of corruption.—
ANDREI KOLESNIKOV,
Foreign Affairs,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Molero and her husband arrived in the United States in 2003, fleeing after they were persecuted for working alongside opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The number paid respects to Matthew Shepard, a gay man who was tortured and killed because of his sexuality in 1998.—
Natasha Dye,
PEOPLE,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Soliman fled to the United States in 2014 on a visitor visa and later filed a petition for asylum, describing how security forces over the years had locked him up on false charges and tortured him with electrical shocks.—
Hannah Allam,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Two women – his mom Elsie Lucero who cared tirelessly for his late-brother Eddie, who was physically and mentally disabled, and his late sister Margie who died of cancer in 2018 and adored her daughter Sarah who has Angelman Syndrome, an extreme form of Down Syndrome.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Access to Work helps employers hire disabled people 100% of employers said their disabled staff would struggle to do their jobs without it.—
Nancy Doyle,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Through the first-person narration of his protagonist, Nicholas, a teenager suddenly besieged by anxiety, Clune conveys with uncanny vividness what a panic attack feels like.—
Scott Stossel,
The Atlantic,
9 Sep. 2025
-
Landslide in western Sudan kills at least 1,000 A landslide in western Sudan killed at least 1,000 people, intensifying hardship in a country besieged by years of civil war.—
Tasneem Nashrulla,
semafor.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Brad Ingelsby’s follow-up to the much-beloved Mare of Easttown switches focus from steely women to feeble men.—
Grace Byron,
Vulture,
8 Sep. 2025
-
The feeble report all but confirms a Fed interest rate cut later this month and raises at least the possibility of a half point – rather than a typical quarter point - reduction, Saunders said.—
Paul Davidson,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
In September, late night TV turns 71, ancient by television standards and, until recently, not infirm — one of American pop culture’s most durable inventions and exports.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
-
Many of those deaths are of infirm inmates who were transferred to the state’s prison hospital in Raleigh for care and died there, records show.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Afflicted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/afflicted. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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