harrowed

verb

past tense of harrow
as in plagued
to cause persistent suffering to the villagers were gaunt and sickly, harrowed by years of disease and starvation

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for harrowed
  1. plagued
  2. afflicted
  3. persecuted
  4. tortured
  5. tormented
Verb
  • They were plagued by mistakes throughout the first four games.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Inadequate funding and the resultant low pay for correctional officers, when compared to other law enforcement agencies, have plagued the bureau for years.
    — Scott Peyton, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of plagued
Verb
  • Love contains the seeds of its own destruction—the cruelty and self-absorption that turns the afflicted against one another, and themselves.
    — Merve Emre, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026
  • While the epicenter was located in Nantou County in central Taiwan, serious damage afflicted residents across the island as roads buckled, bridges collapsed and landslides destroyed everything in their path.
    — Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of afflicted
Verb
  • Those governments provide assurances that people won’t be persecuted or tortured, federal attorneys said.
    — Lindsay Whitehurst, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Also, some immigration cases involve people seeking asylum because they are being persecuted by a foreign government and releasing a person’s full name could be considered sensitive or even dangerous.
    — Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of persecuted
Verb
  • But unlike other Floridians of Cuban descent — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio — Valdes ended up defending Cuba’s socialist revolutionaries and officials who have killed, jailed, tortured, and censored numerous political enemies.
    — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Prosecutors allege Maduro ordered political opponents detained and tortured, received regular updates on interrogations and instructed officials to intensify abuse.
    — Alice Gainer, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of tortured
Verb
  • The other was a decent man constantly being tormented by God in order to test his faith.
    — Chuck Lorre, Vanity Fair, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The Eagles, of course, have tormented the league with that play.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of tormented
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.

Browse Nearby Words

harrow
harrowed
harrowing
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Cite this Entry

“Harrowed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harrowed. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

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