as in to afflict
to cause persistent suffering to
a lingering cold bedeviled me for over a month
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bedevil
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
Visit our website Demographic concentration bedevils the goal of integration.
—Ray Domanico, Washington Post, 9 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
See All Example Sentences for bedevil
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
Visit our website Demographic concentration bedevils the goal of integration.
—Ray Domanico, Washington Post, 9 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
See All Example Sentences for bedevil
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bedevil
Verb
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Peach leaf curl, brown rot, powdery mildew, peach scab, and other diseases also commonly afflict the tree.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
10 Mar. 2026
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In New Zealand, Māori men are famously afflicted — by their eighties, nearly half may have (or have had) gout.—
Jan Steyn,
The Dial,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Gonzalez revealed weeks ago that tests on his shoulder, which has plagued him since September, showed a small tear.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
7 Mar. 2026
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Perched between China and India, the country of 30 million people has been plagued for decades by political instability, crippling a largely agrarian economy and worsening unemployment – structural issues compounded by rampant corruption.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Making up between 8% to 17% of the country’s total population, Iran’s Kurdish minority has long been persecuted under the Islamic Republic.—
John Calabrese,
The Conversation,
7 Mar. 2026
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The agency’s leadership structure — chaired by active-duty officers loyal to Ortega — undermines its autonomy and allows the government to use financial oversight tools to persecute critics, Treasury said.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But the regime, besieged by insurrections across the country, abandoned Manbij.—
Anand Gopal,
New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2026
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The Kings, who snapped a franchise-record 16-game losing streak with Monday’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies, have been besieged by injuries this season.—
Jason Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Prosecutors said in court that Diller was supposed to be off the day he was shot but had been called in to work a shift in a neighborhood beset by violence and robberies.—
Sheetal Banchariya,
New York Daily News,
10 Mar. 2026
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The group is preyed upon by not only the harsh terrain, beset by hunger and desperation, but are also stalked by something older and far more merciless than the desert itself.—
Thinus Ferreira,
Variety,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bedevil.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bedevil. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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