as in to besiege
to surround (as a fortified place) with armed forces for the purpose of capturing or preventing commerce and communication
beleaguered the castle for months
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 beleaguer
Original concepts include mazes set in a demonic version of the Old West, a life-sized toybox full of twisted dolls and a frozen Northern town beleaguered by monsters.
—
Julie Tremaine, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
The delay is due to getting external signs installed on all the grocery stores, the latest holdup in a project that has been beleaguered by construction delays.
—Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025
Despite being one of British fashion’s biggest luxury brands, Burberry has been beleaguered by plunging sales and profits, costing it a place on the UK’s FTSE 100 index (which brings together the 100 most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange) last September.
—Kati Chitrakorn, CNN, 25 Feb. 2025
That poor number also brought back memories of the company’s significant profit margin issues back in 2022 when it was beleaguered by a slew of inventory problems.
—Hakyung Kim,sarah Min, CNBC, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for beleaguer
Julie Tremaine, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
The delay is due to getting external signs installed on all the grocery stores, the latest holdup in a project that has been beleaguered by construction delays.
—Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025
Despite being one of British fashion’s biggest luxury brands, Burberry has been beleaguered by plunging sales and profits, costing it a place on the UK’s FTSE 100 index (which brings together the 100 most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange) last September.
—Kati Chitrakorn, CNN, 25 Feb. 2025
That poor number also brought back memories of the company’s significant profit margin issues back in 2022 when it was beleaguered by a slew of inventory problems.
—Hakyung Kim,sarah Min, CNBC, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for beleaguer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beleaguer
besiege
Verb
-
The interview takes a bad turn when the Ralph Lauren office building is besieged by the tabloid mob.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2026
-
But the regime, besieged by insurrections across the country, abandoned Manbij.—
Anand Gopal,
New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Beleaguer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beleaguer. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
