1
as in distress
a state of great suffering of body or mind
she listened with deep affliction as her daughter told her about the latest trouble she was in
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2
as in sorrow
deep sadness especially for the loss of someone or something loved
felt such great affliction over the destruction of the beautiful old home
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3
as in curse
a source of harm or misfortune
alcohol has been his affliction ever since he took his first drink at the age of 12
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4
5
as in injury
something that causes loss or pain
cronyism and corruption are afflictions on the body politic
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of affliction
In this frankly astonishing novel, to survive affliction is to remain forever unmoored.
—
Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2025
Very quickly, Nate learns to use his affliction to his advantage via such methods as grabbing a blazing hot frying pan and pummeling his stunned opponent with it during a kitchen fight.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2025
Wanting to look as good in real life as on social media is a universal affliction.
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 8 Apr. 2025
Fixed an issue where a perk wrongly indicated a 600% affliction build up with Posture Attacks.
—Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for affliction
Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2025
Very quickly, Nate learns to use his affliction to his advantage via such methods as grabbing a blazing hot frying pan and pummeling his stunned opponent with it during a kitchen fight.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2025
Wanting to look as good in real life as on social media is a universal affliction.
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 8 Apr. 2025
Fixed an issue where a perk wrongly indicated a 600% affliction build up with Posture Attacks.
—Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for affliction
Recent Examples of Synonyms for affliction
Noun
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Kahle said that includes providing resources to participants for whom sharing experiences of intimate partner violence may cause trauma or mental health distress.—
Rae Ellen Bichell and Rachana Pradhan,
Miami Herald,
20 Apr. 2025
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Costa Rican officials have disputed reports by the country’s Ombudsman’s Office that the deportees arrived in Costa Rica in visible distress and that authorities failed to guarantee proper conditions for arriving deportees.—
Megan Janetsky,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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And then, to forever live on earth, in a place with conflict and pain and sorrow, that’s not her goal.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Apr. 2025
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In churches like this, where belief is expressed in multiple languages, the loss of a pope is a death in the family, and the sorrow, like the faith, runs deep.—
Janet Shamlian,
CBS News,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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After turning undead and hiding her bite wound, Mary easily gets permission to re-enter the building, and quickly seduces Stack, before murdering him and infecting him with the vampire curse.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
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Maybe that’s more blessing than curse in our age of baldly allegorical horror movies.—
A.A. Dowd,
Rolling Stone,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Between cases, Harvey confronted his demons and by the series’ 2019 finale was a married man headed to Seattle to reunite with his sidekick to do some legal good for the little guys.—
Yvonne Villarreal,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Apr. 2025
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Based on a book inspired by Chinese mythology, Ne Zha 2 tells the story of Ne Zha, a demon child raised by humans who is hunting for a magical potion to reanimate his friend, the dragon prince Ao Bing, whose body has been destroyed by a lightning strike.—
Caroline Reid,
Forbes.com,
20 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In response to questions from Jackson, Nuttall agreed that injuries to O'Keefe's face could have been caused by a punch to the face.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
24 Apr. 2025
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Officers called to the 1000 block of Fleet Street in Harbor East around 7 p.m. found a male pedestrian with a leg injury, Baltimore police said in a news release.—
Michelle Deal-Zimmerman,
Baltimore Sun,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Ellie is stricken with agony, her reaction almost feral.—
Noel Murray,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2025
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The agony of not knowing was heartbreakingly illustrated by the plight of Oscar Johnson, of St. Charles.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2025
Noun
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But Season 2, by leaning so far into its characters’ anguish, has become more circular and suffocating in its storytelling.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
21 Apr. 2025
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Coogler attempts to out-scare Jordan Peele’s Get Out, using horror tropes to match the anguish expressed by the blues.—
Armond White,
National Review,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Once a nemesis of Trump, Bezos has sought to curry favor with the new administration and donated big bucks to his inauguration committee along with other Big Tech moguls.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2025
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The Hogwarts student, who reigned supreme at Slytherin House, was the arch nemesis of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his two best friends, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson).—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
26 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Affliction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/affliction. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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