as in to plague
to cause persistent suffering to
the villagers were gaunt and sickly, harrowed by years of disease and starvation
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Recent Examples of harrow
Before the big race, the track was harrowed, bringing it to a better and drier racing surface.
—
John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2025
The research fellow who met me, Birte, was in her forties, and appeared as if she had been harrowed by her work.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Plus, Shin Ha-young is given little to do in the second half of the series despite her effortless shift from warm third wheel to harrowed and weary abuse victim.
—Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2023
That same humble deity, in the course of putting on humanity, had obtained a glimpse of the conditions on earth—poverty, needless estrangement, a stubborn pattern of rich ruling over poor—and decided to incite a revolution that would harrow Hell.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2020
John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2025
The research fellow who met me, Birte, was in her forties, and appeared as if she had been harrowed by her work.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Plus, Shin Ha-young is given little to do in the second half of the series despite her effortless shift from warm third wheel to harrowed and weary abuse victim.
—Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2023
That same humble deity, in the course of putting on humanity, had obtained a glimpse of the conditions on earth—poverty, needless estrangement, a stubborn pattern of rich ruling over poor—and decided to incite a revolution that would harrow Hell.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harrow
Verb
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But the first five weeks of the season have proven that wrong, both in terms of the Ravens’ roster construction and the injuries that have plagued their team.—
Adam Grosbard,
Oc Register,
11 Oct. 2025
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But since then, she has been plagued by scandal.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Lakers were down LeBron James, afflicted by nerve pain.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
13 Oct. 2025
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Bicycles ignore the real tangible problems that afflict us.—
Joe Soucheray,
Twin Cities,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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These regimes persecute minorities, jail anyone who speaks freely, and rule through fear and censorship.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
10 Oct. 2025
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Blasphemy accusations have been used repeatedly to persecute Christians and other religious minorities in the country.—
Sean Nelson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Donnelly, meanwhile, recalled on the witness stand how he was repeatedly drowned, tortured and raped by Gacy, per court documents.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
17 Oct. 2025
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To the thousands of Syrians who lost loved ones, or were tortured, imprisoned or displaced by the Assad regime, their homeland had become a crime scene from which the top suspects disappeared en masse.—
Danny Makki,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Was Scott brimming with optimism for the future, as his brother maintained, or privately tormented, as his partner believed?—
Eren Orbey,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
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Stalzer reportedly told police that she was tormented for hours by her daughter in the basement of her home, per Bild.—
Becca Longmire,
PEOPLE,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harrow. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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