as in painful
causing or feeling bodily pain
the afflictive disease known as shingles is a reactivation of the virus that causes chicken pox
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Recent Examples of afflictive
Perhaps this afflictive uncertainty can be redefined.
—
Krista Stevens, Longreads, 26 Apr. 2018
Krista Stevens, Longreads, 26 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for afflictive
Adjective
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Now supposedly dying from some terminal illness, Julian has gone total hermit mode inside of his cluttered London apartment, where the walls are festooned with the relics of his success and the backrooms are a junk pile of painful memories.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
9 Sep. 2025
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Dig a little deeper by comparing your top three financial goals and sharing your most painful and joyous money memories.—
Mary Clements Evans,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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After bandaging the bleeding leg Saturday, Bichette woke up sore Sunday, Schneider said.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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The federal rollback has disproportionately impacted states like Virginia and Maryland, which are so close to Washington, and have become a sore point for Republicans as voters react negatively to the hiring reductions.—
Rachel Schilke,
The Washington Examiner,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
In this aching, unorthodox historical drama, Davies tells the story of the pacifist poet and veteran Siegfried Sassoon, whose experiences fighting in the First World War forever transformed him.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
5 Aug. 2025
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Braxton shares an aching need to be vulnerable only to realize by album’s end that such unions can result in horrible betrayal, her words of lament surrounded by swelling, lush orchestration.—
Clarence A. Haynes
July 3,
Literary Hub,
3 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Afflictive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/afflictive. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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