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plagued 1 of 2

adjective

as in tormented

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plagued

2 of 2

verb

past tense of plague
as in afflicted
to cause persistent suffering to plagued by a cough for all of last week

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 plagued
Verb
Instead, they were plagued by injuries, dropped seven of their final nine games and lost the division tiebreaker to the Carolina Panthers. — Jenny Catlin, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026 But the violence that plagued Muslims and mosques in the days and years after 9/11 stood in stark contrast to those sentiments. — Brieanna J. Frank, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2026 Jackson broke his foot last training camp when a teammate stepped on it during practice, and that injury plagued him all of 2025 and required an offseason procedure that kept him sidelined during OTAs and minicamp. — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2026 But the brand was plagued by its convoluted financial history and shut down in 2020 when Chapelle pulled her financial support. — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 2 Sep. 2026 Once running, the Transcanyon pipeline was perpetually plagued by costly repairs, which as the one-man pumphouse maintenance crew, Aiken remembers well. — Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 31 Aug. 2026 Garbage’s set was plagued by technical difficulties, but singer Shirley Manson kept her cool, joking that this was just the kind of thing the band was used to. — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 30 Aug. 2026 The research team identified opportunities to improve the atomic layer etching (ALE) approach, which offers significant advantages over the conventional methods but was plagued by difficulties for practical use. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026 Troubles from the start The groundbreaking attraction, which Six Flags has sunk millions of dollars into, was plagued with problems from the outset. — Blake Ellis, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plagued
  1. frustrated
  2. afflicted
  3. aggravated
  4. persecuted
  5. tortured
  6. besieged
  7. tested
  8. cursed
Adjective
  • True to form, Zverev delivered a new reason for fans to grow frustrated with him.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Regardless of whether players and fans believe the series features one Link or multiple Links across the convoluted timeline posited in the Hyrule Historia, each of these games ends at a moment of frustrated erotic climax.
    — Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of frustrated
Verb
  • The global food system is afflicted by uncertainty across many domains—weather, supply chains, labor, trade, and beyond.
    — Anna Nelson, Foreign Affairs, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Over 600,000 women a year in America are afflicted with postpartum depression in America, research shows.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of afflicted
Adjective
  • The driver of the pickup truck, 21-year-old Jesse David Lovato, has since been arrested and is facing charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault, according to the outlets.
    — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2026
  • On Monday, Hamby was charged with murder, aggravated assault, terroristic threats and acts, and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a felony, jail records show.
    — Irene Wright, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of aggravated
Verb
  • Many see Trump as the only president to defend Nigerian Christians; his administration claims they are being persecuted by Islamist groups.
    — Harriet Marsden, TheWeek, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Fernanda risked her life not only to protect works of art during the war, but also to help politically persecuted people escape the Fascist regime.
    — Roberto Prieto, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of persecuted
Adjective
  • But this leads to secrets revealed, lies told and tortured confrontations, not just with others but most intensely with himself.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Wuthering Heights In Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte presents a world of conflicts, frictions between families, passions, and attachments—especially those of Catherine Earnshaw and the tortured Heathcliff—across an untamed landscape.
    — Caroline Rogers, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of tortured
Verb
  • In recent months, Israeli settlers have repeatedly besieged the village of Qusra, defying orders from the authorities to leave the area and trying to force Palestinian families, some of whom are also American citizens, out.
    — Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
  • There has been a spate of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, and the village of Qusra has been besieged by Israeli settlers for weeks.
    — F. Brinley Bruton, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of besieged
Adjective
  • Each application is pre-tested and integrated into the platform to reduce deployment time and improve reliability for end users.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 31 July 2026
  • But summer back in New York, amid the fug of the city, requires a return to a tested and true formula.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 22 June 2025
Definition of tested
Verb
  • In Practical Magic 2, a multi generational family of witches, cursed to be loveless for centuries, attempts to break the spell by confronting dark secrets and sacrificing for each other.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Behold the plight of the Ryan Murphy character, cursed to behave nonsensically and flit wildly from plotline to plotline based on the writer’s whims.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of cursed

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Cite this Entry

“Plagued.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plagued. Accessed 16 Sep. 2026.

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