1
as in plagues
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
2
as in attacks
to take sudden, violent action against
the unsuspecting tourists were suddenly beset by robbers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for besets
Verb
-
Odd moment plagues fourth quarter As the Knicks held on to their fairly sizable lead, a fan ran onto the court, tried to take a selfie with Wembanyama but was quickly apprehended by security.—
Jacob Lev,
CNN Money,
4 June 2026 -
Early has been significantly better on the road than at home this year, a problem that plagues the team as a whole.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
Dennis waits until Mallory leaves to go on a bike ride, and then attacks her on the path.—
Erin Qualey,
Vulture,
29 May 2026
-
Nadal was diagnosed with Mueller-Weiss syndrome early in his career, a rare degenerative condition that attacks the navicular bone in the foot.—
Ava Wallace,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
Consider osteoarthritis, which afflicts roughly 33 million Americans by gradually wearing down cartilage in the joints.—
Bryan T. Kelly,
Fortune,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Regeneron also gained Food and Drug Administration approval on April 23 for its gene therapy, Otarmeni, which will be prescribed to treat a rare type of hearing loss that afflicts about 50 newborns in the United States each year.—
Ken Alltucker,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates or interferes with airline crew members can lead to penalties of up to $43,658 per violation, according to the FAA.—
Cindy Von Quednow,
CNN Money,
3 May 2026
-
Any person who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crewmembers can face criminal charges and civil penalties costing up to $3,658 per violation, the statement read.—
CBS New York Team,
CBS News,
3 May 2026
Verb
-
China, which jails human rights activists in Hong Kong, persecutes Uyghurs, has killed hundreds of thousands of Tibetans and has committed genocide against the Falun Gong, is on the UN Human Rights Council.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
18 Feb. 2026
-
In Russia, the civilian repressive apparatus persecutes the military, which leaps at every chance for revenge.—
Stephen Kotkin,
Foreign Affairs,
16 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
That figure has dwindled to around 3 percent as fewer candidates avail themselves of the money and Congress raids the fund for other things.—
Adam Lashinsky,
Washington Post,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Some owls will hunt the wildlife that raids our garbage cans, like skunks and opossums.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Gary ultimately storms off, but Duncan appreciates the insult, suggesting that Silicon Valley's venture capitalists love sociopaths.—
Matt Cabral,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 June 2026
-
The plot is based around a routine jury site visit that turns deadly when a mercenary kill team led by Hewitt (Adkins) storms the location in search of a secret ledger detailing citywide corruption.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
The service The service strikes an ideal balance between polished and personal, all without being overly stuffy.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
-
Drone strikes on the UAE are still occurring sporadically, but the wide-scale alerts of the early conflict have ceased — along with the associated distress.—
Melanie Swan,
CNN Money,
1 June 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Besets.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/besets. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
