persecuting

verb

present participle of persecute
1
as in plaguing
to cause persistent suffering to people who were persecuted simply for practicing their religious faith

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bothering
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

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 persecuting Biden weaponized Law Enforcement against his political opponent, while also persecuting many other innocent people. — New York Times, 11 June 2026 Jack Hayford, the founder of the King’s University, in Texas, claimed that the film was persecuting Christians, who only wanted to be treated equally. — Isaac Butler, New Yorker, 30 May 2026 Behind the story One of the really big stories on my beat covering China for the last decade has been Beijing's intensive ramp-up in detaining and persecuting Uyghurs, a primarily Muslim ethnic minority. — Brittney Melton, NPR, 26 May 2026 The South African government has denied persecuting the ethnic minority, composed of descendants of European settlers, mostly from the Netherlands. — Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, 19 May 2026 Saddam towered over Iraq’s political regime for nearly 30 years, plunging the country into multiple destructive wars, persecuting his own citizens and inflicting widespread trauma and suffering. — David Faris, TheWeek, 24 Apr. 2026 The order also accused the Cuban government of persecuting political opponents, suppressing free speech and the press, and committing other human rights violations—actions that have been documented by human rights organizations over the years. — Chad De Guzman, Time, 17 Mar. 2026 The term refers to biblical passages in which Jesus described Jews in specific communities who were persecuting the early Christians. — Jennifer Berry Hawes, ProPublica, 4 Feb. 2026 Troops are occupying our cities and persecuting our people. — Maria Guinnip, Oklahoman, 21 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecuting
  1. plaguing
  2. bothering
  3. afflicting
  4. annoying
  5. torturing
  6. bugging
  7. attacking
  8. irritating
Verb
  • Gallagher has also sought to tie McGuire to cost-of-living problems plaguing Californians, such as the price of gasoline and housing.
    — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Raman zeroed in on the issue of soaring electrical bills and the string of problems plaguing LAX’s elevated rail project.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of plaguing
Verb
  • Bri reached basically the same conclusion without bothering with the cardio experiment.
    — Kevin Fanady, New Atlas, 6 Nov. 2026
  • His work is autobiographical and based on whatever has been bothering him that year.
    — Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of bothering
Verb
  • Singh and Jaggseer, like Beyoncé and Lil Nas X before them, highlight an identity crisis afflicting modern country music.
    — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The work continues and the Frates family has maintained the passion that Pete instilled in them in fighting the disease that is still afflicting far too many people.
    — Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of afflicting
Verb
  • That unexpected fandom has grown over the past two years, with unlikely converts taking to the internet’s alleyways to spread the good word—and, in the process, annoying the doubters.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Kids in all three countries loved learning dances from TikTok and annoying their siblings.
    — Ryan Lenora Brown, Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of annoying
Verb
  • Tennessee recently paused the practice after prisoner Christa Pike, who was convicted of torturing and killing a classmate in 1995, survived two rounds of a botched lethal injection.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The latest season, currently being aired, depicts a fictional Chinese intelligence agency capturing and torturing some of the Japanese spies.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of torturing
Verb
  • The Department of Justice’s prosecution of a Saudi national for allegedly bugging an OpenAI conference room is causing anxiety among OpenAI employees, many of whom are foreign nationals.
    — Benjamin Guggenheim, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
  • On Monday, a court granted the US government’s request to deny release of a former OpenAI engineer accused of bugging a top-secret conference room to steal the frontier lab’s secrets.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of bugging
Verb
  • Hawley said the majority of conflicts between humans and coyotes occurs when a pet owner tries to save their pet from an attacking coyote.
    — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Washington Examiner economics columnist Tiana Lowe Doescher slammed Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul el Sayed for refusing to denounce a controversial ad attacking Israel.
    — Mackenzie Chase, The Washington Examiner, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of attacking
Verb
  • That mismatch can lead to issues ranging from irritating residue to expensive repairs.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Nov. 2026
  • These extra steps are irritating, as non-Amazon ereaders tend to be much more forgiving when loading your own media.
    — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of irritating

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Cite this Entry

“Persecuting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecuting. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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