From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishafflictaf‧flict /əˈflɪkt/ ●○○ verb [transitive] formal SUFFERto affect someone or something in an unpleasant way, and make them sufferbe afflicted with/by something a country afflicted by famineGrammar Afflict is often passive in this meaning.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
afflict• A similar problem may be afflicting the Telnet application.• Primary pulmonary hypertension is extremely rare, afflicting about 1,500 people in the United States.• Apparently, mental illness is one of the few diseases requiring hospitalization where those afflicted are released before they are cured.• He is rueful, polite, mildly disappointed, and afflicted by a low-key melancholy.• This type of pneumonia frequently afflicts elderly people.• Nerves afflict everyone in some way, and without them acting would be the poorer.• He must learn to relax more, not be racked by the tortured tenseness that had afflicted him for the past weeks.• Kidney stone disease afflicts mostly men between 20 and 55.• This particular example highlights two additional shortcomings which afflict our conventional political institutions.be afflicted with/by something• Constant mulling had left Father Vic afflicted with a wide array of nervous tics, small flinches and exasperated sighs.• He is rueful, polite, mildly disappointed, and afflicted by a low-key melancholy.• She was a strange little girl, advanced for her age and surprisingly sensible for one afflicted with the symptoms of epilepsy.• Venus, however, is afflicted with a lethally hot and corrosive atmosphere.• All are afflicted with a rise in overcrowded classrooms, teacher layoffs, and the other crises that accompany financial cutbacks.• Many are afflicted by alcoholism, drug addiction, and depression.• Unfortunately it get direct sunlight, and is afflicted with algae.• I rather think some of them were afflicted with this latter disease.Origin afflict (1300-1400) Latin past participle of affligere “to throw down”, from ad- “to” + fligere “to hit” 