afflict
pronunciation
How to pronounce afflict in British English:
UK [əˈflɪkt]
How to pronounce afflict in American English:
US [əˈflɪkt]
-
- Verb:
- cause great unhappiness for; distress
- cause pain or suffering in
- cause bodily suffering to
Word Origin
- afflict
- afflict: [14] When it originally entered English, afflict meant ‘overthrow’, reflecting its origins in Latin afflīgere ‘throw down’, a compound verb formed from the prefix ad- ‘to’ and flīgere ‘strike’. English afflict comes either from the Latin past participle afflictus, from a new Latin verb formed from this, afflictāre, or perhaps from the now obsolete English adjective afflict, which was borrowed from Old French aflit and refashioned on the Latin model. The meaning ‘torment, distress’ developed in the early 16th century.
- afflict (v.)
- late 14c., "to cast down," from Old French aflicter, from Latin afflictare "to damage, harass, torment," frequentative of affligere (past participle afflictus) "to dash down, overthrow," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + fligere (past participle flictus) "to strike," from PIE root *bhlig- "to strike" (cognates: Greek phlibein "to press, crush," Czech blizna "scar," Welsh blif "catapult"). Transferred meaning of "trouble, distress," is first recorded 1530s. Related: Afflicted; afflicting.
Example
- 1. Economic woes afflict many at the moment .
- 2. Financial crises afflict every kind of country .
- 3. Above all , the divisions that many thought would afflict labour have not materialised .
- 4. One of the reasons why greenlanders need danish subsidies is the social problems ( including poor health and bad school results ) that afflict so many indigenous groups in poorer places .
- 5. According to dijksterhuis 's theory , the subconscious is sometimes less prone to the biases that afflict the conscious mind , thus ensuring that an expert gives due weight to the most important factors .