Link Centre Dictionary

afflict

aff·lict

UK/əˈflɪkt/ US/ʌˈflɪkt/ uncommon obsolete

verb

1.

cause great unhappiness for; distress

  • “she was afflicted by the death of her parents”
2.

cause pain or suffering in

  • “afflict with the plague”
  • “That debasement of the verbal currency that afflicts terms used in advertisement”
Synonyms
3.

Origin

From Middle English afflicten (attested in past participle afflicte), from Latin afflīctō (“to damage, harass, torment”), from ad- + flīctus, past participle of afflīgō (“strike, beat”), from ad- + flīgō (“strike”) (whence af-).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.