Afflict
[ə'flɪkt]
Definition
(verb.) cause physical pain or suffering in; 'afflict with the plague'.
(verb.) cause great unhappiness for; distress; 'she was afflicted by the death of her parents'.
Editor: Rufus--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To strike or cast down; to overthrow.
(v. t.) To inflict some great injury or hurt upon, causing continued pain or mental distress; to trouble grievously; to torment.
(v. t.) To make low or humble.
(p. p. & a.) Afflicted.
Editor: Philip
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Grieve, distress, trouble, torment, agonize, plague, pain, hurt, harass, wound, exercise, grind, persecute, smite, make sorrowful.
Editor: Randolph
Definition
v.t. to give continued pain distress or grief: to harass or vex.—pa.p. Afflict′ed harassed by disease of body or mind: suffering.—adj. Afflict′ing distressing.—n. Afflic′tion state or cause of pain or distress: misery: loss of friends sickness persecution. &c.—adj. Afflict′ive causing distress.
Editor: Michel
Examples
- The spirits of evil bring mal adies upon us; the gods heal the diseases that afflict us. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- A good patriot, said the other, could hardly have been more afflicted if the Aristocrat had drawn a blank. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- But yet hope was there none, neither to the afflicted to be delivered, neither yet to the purchaser [i. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- This eases the afflicted heart, he said. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- What the poets and story-tellers say--that the wicked prosper and the righteous are afflicted, or that justice is another's gain? Plato. The Republic.
- The little children were in a pitiable condition--they all had sore eyes, and were otherwise afflicted in various ways. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Elinor, too, was deeply afflicted; but still she could struggle, she could exert herself. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- It did not seem at all comical to Meg, who kissed and caressed the afflicted heroine in the tenderest manner. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- It was a sad time, a time which it afflicts me to think of or to write of now. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Hence the deluge of half-observations, of verbal ideas, and unassimilated knowledge which afflicts the world. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- This law established his tyranny; and for one mischief which it prevented, ten thousand evils, horrible and afflicting, sprung up in its place. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- I had before, in the public papers, met with the afflicting news that letter contained. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- Both the sisters seemed struck: not shocked or appalled; the tidings appeared in their eyes rather momentous than afflicting. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
Typed by Lloyd