as in oppressed
suffering grave abuse or injustice at the hands of one in authority
a nation that is still regarded as a refuge for persecuted people from around the world
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in afflicted
to cause persistent suffering to
people who were persecuted simply for practicing their religious faith
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in annoyed
to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts
she likes to persecute her sister with pointless, annoying questions at very inopportune times
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of persecuted
Greg Evans, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2025
Leatherface attacks, but the real villains turn out to be the townsfolk who persecuted the Sawyers after the original massacre.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Sep. 2025
In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted, barred from public life.
—Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 17 Sep. 2025
More and more, people who have loyally served Putin’s system are being persecuted, mainly on the grounds of corruption.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2025
Molero and her husband arrived in the United States in 2003, fleeing after they were persecuted for working alongside opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
Archival clips show thousands of Jews persecuted in Germany have begun migrating to Palestine.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025
His deportation to El Salvador violated a 2019 court order that protected him from being deported to his home country because of concerns that he’d be persecuted by violent gangs.
—Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 25 Aug. 2025
Criminals are to be persecuted.
—Tommy Trenchard, NPR, 23 Aug. 2025
Verb
This Committee was initially created during the McCarthy Era, a dark time when the federal government repressed and persecuted American citizens for their political beliefs.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2025
Leatherface attacks, but the real villains turn out to be the townsfolk who persecuted the Sawyers after the original massacre.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Sep. 2025
In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted, barred from public life.
—Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 17 Sep. 2025
More and more, people who have loyally served Putin’s system are being persecuted, mainly on the grounds of corruption.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2025
Molero and her husband arrived in the United States in 2003, fleeing after they were persecuted for working alongside opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
Archival clips show thousands of Jews persecuted in Germany have begun migrating to Palestine.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025
His deportation to El Salvador violated a 2019 court order that protected him from being deported to his home country because of concerns that he’d be persecuted by violent gangs.
—Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 25 Aug. 2025
Criminals are to be persecuted.
—Tommy Trenchard, NPR, 23 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecuted
Adjective
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One answer was to build a Jewish state; the other, to fight for the emancipation of all oppressed people through universalist, often left-wing, politics.—
Ian Buruma,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
-
To One Piece fans, the flag symbolizes Luffy’s quest to chase his dreams, liberate oppressed people, and fight the autocratic World Government.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Subsequent names didn't stick either, despite cases of this unusual form of diabetes continuing to surface, especially in areas afflicted with malnutrition.—
Jonathan Lambert,
NPR,
29 Sep. 2025
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Just look at poverty, violence and health and housing inequities that have long afflicted Fairhill and West Kensington, two adjacent and heavily Puerto Rican neighborhoods in North Philadelphia.—
Héctor M. Varela Rios,
The Conversation,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In practice, Musk bowed to authoritarian governments or banned critical journalists when their reporting annoyed him.—
Jacob Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Christian is annoyed by Max’s temporary tyranny and overall seems … normal.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But internally, Artie is struggling, plagued by feelings of isolation and the constant thought that the world has gone mad.—
Clare Fisher,
PEOPLE,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Bob McCann, executive director of The K-12 Alliance of Michigan, said the message from the governor and state superintendent telling school officials to spend money on school meals after the budget logjam in Lansing plagued them with months of funding uncertainty was met with frustration.—
Clara Hendrickson,
Freep.com,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The decision by Aaron Turner, Kuminga’s agent, to go on a media tour in recent weeks while negotiating publicly in hopes of landing a better offer for Kuminga, irritated some with the organization, according to league sources.—
Nick Friedell,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
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And the web designer from South Dakota certainly must have irritated her former final two ally Vince Panaro on her way out of the Big Brother house.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This is the cost of having been tortured in public.—
Romina Ruiz-Goiriena,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
-
Hoping to better understand the demand for smutty scares, Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville (Olivia Williams), spend an interminable evening at the theater surrounded by people throwing popcorn and making out while the topless woman onscreen is tortured and killed in a masked man’s dungeon.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But Bob Say, owner of Los Angeles’ Freakbeat Records, for one, isn’t all that bothered.—
Roy Trakin,
Rolling Stone,
1 Oct. 2025
-
The clutter bothered Counsell during his first year on the job.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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And in the center of the city, where the overflowing rivers are predicted to merge, Thomas Orthopedic Hospital could be besieged by more than 10 feet of water on three sides.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
5 Oct. 2025
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If your flower beds were besieged with pests or fungal diseases, the fallen leaf litter and stems from those plants should not be left in the garden.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
4 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Persecuted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecuted. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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