BESET Synonyms: 155 Similar and Opposite Words

beset

verb

bi-ˈset

Definition of beset

as in to plague

to cause persistent suffering to he's been beset by a lack of self-confidence virtually his entire life

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to attack

to take sudden, violent action against the unsuspecting tourists were suddenly beset by robbers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 beset The Archipelago muddles on for fifty years until the Lough’s beset by an ecological crisis. — Literary Hub, 30 July 2026 Drawing on the testimonies of 255 workers across eight factories in Pakistan, the report portrays an industry beset by pervasive unlawful wages, excessive working hours, harassment, bullying, surveillance and intimidation. — Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 24 July 2026 Any Olympics are beset by logistical questions in the run-up. — Barry Svrluga, New York Times, 24 July 2026 Residents struggled to understand the process of receiving help from FEMA, people were beset by scams and price gouging, and tenants whose homes had been destroyed or made uninhabitable puzzled over their rights. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 23 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for beset

Recent Examples of Synonyms for beset

Verb

What did Widow’s Bay creator and showrunner Katie Dippold see in Matthew Rhys as Tom Loftis, mayor of the New England island town plagued by a historic curse?

— Beatrice Verhoeven, HollywoodReporter, 7 Aug. 2026
South Africa is plagued by violence, but extensive research has found that white South African farmers are not victims of crime at higher rates than other groups.

— Anna Maria Barry-Jester, ProPublica, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of plague

Verb

New arrival Maghnes Akliouche adds another attacking option this summer, while the signing of Lucas Digne from Villa gives this particular fixture an early subplot, with the full-back facing his old club straight out of the gate.

— Dean Jones, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2026
The woman was in the Silver River in Marion County, just south of Gainesville, when she was attacked on the arm on Saturday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.

— Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of attack

Verb

Repeat this process once the soil has dried again, until affected plants are no longer afflicted with pests.

— Abby Monteil, The Spruce, 1 Aug. 2026
Blending horror with comedy, the Apple TV show takes place in a fictitious New England island town afflicted by a centuries-old curse that brings about supernatural evils.

— Beatrice Verhoeven, HollywoodReporter, 31 July 2026

Definition of afflict

Verb

Although the two programs similarly target humanitarian concerns, being a TPS holder does not guarantee asylum, which requires that applicants prove they’ve been persecuted on specific grounds.

— Cameron Pugh, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Aug. 2026
In The Bacchae, Dionysus becomes violent only because his existence has been denied and his followers persecuted, and his maenads similarly become destructive only when pursued.

— Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 31 July 2026

Definition of persecute

Verb

Members of the Montreal City Police Department found the weapon, a Glock 26, on August 30, 2024, when officers raided a home in relation to a kidnapping investigation, court records show.

— Mark Morales, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2026
In September of 2022, Spanish police arrested an Irishman suspected of laundering money for the Kinahan organization after raiding a property in Malaga on the Costa del Sol.

— ABC News, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of raid

Verb

But the film does not explain what ‘hospitality’ has to do with a narrative situation in which the Greeks have been besieging Troy for 10 years already [which Nolan’s movie does not depict]; the Trojans are not their hosts but their enemies in war.

— Zack Sharf, Variety, 5 Aug. 2026
And yet, besieged by the same afflictions of greed, self-interest and a comical inability to work together, horse racing is doing its damndest to similarly mess up its very good thing.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of besiege

Verb

Residents of a Newark, New Jersey, apartment complex got a startling wakeup call Sunday morning when police in tactical gear, responding to reports of multiple people shot, stormed their building.

— Andrew Ramos, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026
Eventually, Daemon uses Caraxes to burn down the entrance so that the Blacks can storm the town in search of Ormund and his Rhaenyra’s latest rival, Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth).

— Jennifer Maas, Variety, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of storm

Browse Nearby Words

beseems

beset

besets

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Beset.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beset. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of beset

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on beset

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

gnomic

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

'Gaslighting,' 'Woke,' 'Democracy,' and Other Top Lookups

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes