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
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 The resulting statement included commitments by both sides to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as to renounce the use of force to acquire land, something that had bedeviled their relations for decades. Ilan Berman, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Nov. 2025 Fraser was bedeviled by Elizabeth Hurley’s Beelzebub in Bedazzled (2000), earned career-best reviews for the Vietnam drama The Quiet American (2002), and landed a role in the Best Picture-winning Crash (2004). Andrew Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bedeviled
Adjective
  • The tragedy at first bewildered law enforcement in both states, as investigators were unsure why Miller traveled to Utah or why the three women were killed.
    Holly Yan, CNN Money, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Olivier tried successfully to get the reader to understand how a gentle, pacific young man could come to kill more than a thousand people, and so capturing the tone and empathetic portrayal not only of Simo Häyhä and his colleagues but also of the often-bewildered Russian soldiers was essential.
    Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 30 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Wegmann said people tend to think of affordable housing in the context of the housing projects built in decades past, which, in some cases, were plagued by crime.
    Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Much of the Colorado River’s water begins as snow in Colorado’s mountains, which have been plagued by record-low snowfall this winter.
    Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • When Sneaky Snook in his mail truck happened upon the wreckage near the boundary of Meredith Downs, sheep were scattered along the roadside and the fence, bleating, dazed.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Still, some songs can disrupt our dazed habit of barely listening and give us something to participate in.
    Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 7 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • The regular crowd shots of the waiting room too often reduce the afflicted into a zombie-like horde bent on making life more difficult for our beloved medical staff.
    Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026
  • Instead, each statement is afflicted by a delinquent modifier.
    Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
  • Immediately disoriented, confused and dizzy.
    Scott Pelley, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026
  • Current ride-share insurance minimums already leave many victims undercompensated and confused.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 7 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • 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
  • The mission said intelligence agencies routinely persecuted political adversaries, falsifying evidence to justify arrests and in some cases resorting to torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
    Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
  • And disrupted sleep can spell distracted or fatigued driving.
    Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Gatz attributed the increases to excessive speed and distracted driving.
    Barbara Hoberock, Oklahoma Voice, 3 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Experts see positive trends Despite California’s long and tortured history with auto insurance, rates in the state remain below the national average.
    Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2026
  • One of them was a person whose eight-month-old baby was tortured in front of his eyes.
    Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Bedeviled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bedeviled. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.

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