bedeviled 1 of 2

Definition of bedevilednext

bedeviled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of bedevil

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of bedeviled
Verb
That's become the central issue and has really bedeviled Trump in recent weeks. Cody Godwin, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026 But this project was bedeviled with budget trouble, and axed before anyone got to see it. Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2026 Mattison was excited about the possibility of helping the Dolphins solve their short-yardage shortcomings, a problem that had bedeviled them the previous two seasons. Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 3 Feb. 2026 Libya’s central bank is suing Zimbabwe’s finance minister and national oil company for more than $100 million, the latest development in a spiraling debt crisis that’s bedeviled the southern African nation for a quarter of a century. William Clowes, Bloomberg, 28 Jan. 2026 The acrimony that bedeviled so many bands that NOFX avoided for 40 years had finally caught up with them. Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2026 Perhaps in Iran, which has been engulfed by mass protests, leading the president to threaten action against an oppressive regime that has bedeviled the United States for nearly half a century. Jonathan Lemire, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026 These questions will be tough, likely impossible, to answer to everyone's satisfaction — and several have bedeviled lawmakers, and Iowans, before. Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, Des Moines Register, 8 Jan. 2026 Daniel Cole/Reuters Hiring slowed in November, resuming sluggish performance that has bedeviled the labor market for much of this year and elicited a series of interest rate cuts, a fresh jobs report on Tuesday showed. Max Zahn, ABC News, 16 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bedeviled
Adjective
  • Connie is bewildered but happy about this.
    Alice Burton, Vulture, 20 Apr. 2026
  • This sometimes left audience members bewildered about what had actually happened.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 6 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Opposition lawmakers are demanding Starmer resign, arguing his appointment of Mandelson despite warnings about reputational risks demonstrates poor judgment that has plagued his tenure since July 2024.
    Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026
  • There were promising signs of life throughout, though, and the Red Sox did enough to supersede the issues that have plagued them throughout their 9-13 start.
    Gabrielle Starr, Hartford Courant, 20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • In his emotional breakdowns, Elliott buckles under his testy relationship with his mother Lynn and then wanders through gatherings and parties with a perpetually dazed expression.
    Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2026
  • No one is immune to the lampooning, even the dazed and confused sons and daughters who get sidelined and pawned off due to their parents’ ambitions, neuroses and desires to achieve greatness.
    Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Washington’s version of McCall is disciplined but damaged, and possibly afflicted with something like obsessive-compulsive disorder.
    Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
  • These are important messages for a world afflicted by war and division.
    Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • It gets filled by outside forces, many of whom have foreign ties and understand that a confused and misinformed public is easier to manipulate than an informed one.
    Julian Baron, Baltimore Sun, 19 Apr. 2026
  • The second is that Trump, as strategist-in-chief, keeps giving his negotiators objectives so implausible, confused or contradictory that even the wiliest diplomats in history — a Klemens von Metternich in the 19th century, say, or a Henry Kissinger in the 20th — would come up empty.
    Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 18 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Alex isn’t persecuted for being trans.
    Brittany Delay, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Jews were not necessarily being persecuted in Hungary at that point.
    Marcy Thompson, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • SpaceX, the dominant player in the burgeoning commercial space market, is running behind on its huge lunar lander and is more distracted than ever with an initial sale of shares to the public that could raise as much as $75 billion.
    Thomas Black, Mercury News, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Experts say large gatherings — from Fiesta events to packed Spurs watch parties — can create the kind of close-quarters environment where bad actors may try to take advantage of distracted crowds.
    Jacob Beltran, San Antonio Express-News, 24 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The kidnappers didn’t care and tortured the family with 2 notes knowing the FBI would not recommend paying a ransom without proof of life.
    Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 22 Apr. 2026
  • In July 2013, Anderson and Walker were found bound, gagged, tortured and shot to death in Anderson’s home, according to police.
    Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 22 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Bedeviled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bedeviled. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.

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