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
Jonathan Lambert, NPR, 29 Sep. 2025
Just look at poverty, violence and health and housing inequities that have long afflicted Fairhill and West Kensington, two adjacent and heavily Puerto Rican neighborhoods in North Philadelphia.
—Héctor M. Varela Rios, The Conversation, 8 Sep. 2025
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
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
Subsequent names didn't stick either, despite cases of this unusual form of diabetes continuing to surface, especially in areas afflicted with malnutrition.
—Jonathan Lambert, NPR, 29 Sep. 2025
Just look at poverty, violence and health and housing inequities that have long afflicted Fairhill and West Kensington, two adjacent and heavily Puerto Rican neighborhoods in North Philadelphia.
—Héctor M. Varela Rios, The Conversation, 8 Sep. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for afflicted
Verb
-
But internally, Artie is struggling, plagued by feelings of isolation and the constant thought that the world has gone mad.—
Clare Fisher,
PEOPLE,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Bob McCann, executive director of The K-12 Alliance of Michigan, said the message from the governor and state superintendent telling school officials to spend money on school meals after the budget logjam in Lansing plagued them with months of funding uncertainty was met with frustration.—
Clara Hendrickson,
Freep.com,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
His talent for expressing a volatile vulnerability and grit saw him through performances as troubled tough guys in Where the Crawdads Sing and The Iron Claw.—
Liam Hess,
Vogue,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Maigret must outwit some of Paris’s most cunning and violent criminals, while dealing with his own troubled past.—
Jessica Radloff,
Glamour,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
This Committee was initially created during the McCarthy Era, a dark time when the federal government repressed and persecuted American citizens for their political beliefs.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Leatherface attacks, but the real villains turn out to be the townsfolk who persecuted the Sawyers after the original massacre.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This is the cost of having been tortured in public.—
Romina Ruiz-Goiriena,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
-
Hoping to better understand the demand for smutty scares, Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville (Olivia Williams), spend an interminable evening at the theater surrounded by people throwing popcorn and making out while the topless woman onscreen is tortured and killed in a masked man’s dungeon.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In a country where disabled people are overrepresented in jails and prisons, psychiatric institutions and police encounters, this isn’t just theoretical.—
Kate Caldwell,
Mercury News,
30 Sep. 2025
-
The blackout is said to have come after Afghanistan’s 9,350-kilometer fiber optic network was disabled, leaving flights grounded, banks frozen, and millions of citizens and businesses cut off.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
And in the center of the city, where the overflowing rivers are predicted to merge, Thomas Orthopedic Hospital could be besieged by more than 10 feet of water on three sides.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
5 Oct. 2025
-
If your flower beds were besieged with pests or fungal diseases, the fallen leaf litter and stems from those plants should not be left in the garden.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
This is a good spot for them, though, as Josh Allen will have a lot of time against a feeble Patriots pass rush, and some people might think the Patriots’ 42-13 win over the Panthers actually means something.—
Vic Tafur,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
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In this scheme, free will was feeble, and sin could be blamed on dark forces inhabiting the body.—
Shai Tubali,
Big Think,
30 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 8 Oct. 2025.
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