AFFLICT

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does afflict mean? 

• AFFLICT (verb)
  The verb AFFLICT has 2 senses:

1. cause great unhappiness for; distress

2. cause physical pain or suffering in

  Familiarity information: AFFLICT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AFFLICT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they afflict    ... he / she / it afflicts   
Past simple: afflicted   
Past participle: afflicted   
-ing form: afflicting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause great unhappiness for; distress

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

she was afflicted by the death of her parents

Hypernyms (to "afflict" is one way to...):

discomfit; discompose; disconcert; untune; upset (cause to lose one's composure)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "afflict"):

aggrieve; grieve (cause to feel sorrow)

tribulate (oppress or trouble greatly)

strain; stress; try (test the limits of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will afflict him

Derivation:

affliction (a cause of great suffering and distress)

affliction (a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity)

afflictive (causing misery or pain or distress)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause physical pain or suffering in

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

afflict; smite

Context example:

afflict with the plague

Hypernyms (to "afflict" is one way to...):

damage (inflict damage upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "afflict"):

visit (assail)

blight; plague (cause to suffer a blight)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

affliction (a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity)

afflictive (causing misery or pain or distress)

 Context examples 

But to properly correct these imbalances, it's important for scientists to have a broader understanding of microbial communities as they exist — both in the afflicted areas and throughout the entire body.

(Microbes are at work in our bodies, and researchers have figured out what they're up to, National Science Foundation)

Though Lydia had never been a favourite with them, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner could not but be deeply afflicted.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

“Miss Dartle,” said I, “if you can be so obdurate as not to feel for this afflicted mother—”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The project may pave the way for the development of more effective painkillers for the treatment of this debilitating chronic condition, which afflicts approximately 500 million people throughout the world.

(Genetic study paves way for new neuropathic pain treatments, University of Granada)

Then feeling that he was going very fast, he hastily embraced them all round, not forgetting the afflicted Hannah, and ran downstairs as if for his life.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Now and again, though afflicted with secret shame, he dropped in at his sister's at meal-time and ate as much as he dared—more than he dared at the Morse table.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I attended to all the ghastly formalities, and the urbane undertaker proved that his staff were afflicted—or blessed—with something of his own obsequious suavity.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They have a parboiled appearance, are afflicted with hang-nails, while the nails are broken and discoloured, and the edges of the quick seem to be assuming a fungoid sort of growth.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She spilled her food from her spoon, and could place no reliance in her afflicted arm.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Most cases stem from teenage or late pregnancies, precarious prenatal care, or illnesses afflicting the mother.

(Early birth main cause of child death in Brazil, Agência Brasil)