From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpersecuteper‧se‧cute /ˈpɜːsɪkjuːt $ ˈpɜːr-/ verb [transitive] 1 CRUELto treat someone cruelly or unfairly over a period of time, especially because of their religious or political beliefs The Puritans left England to escape being persecuted.2 PROBLEMto deliberately cause difficulties for someone by annoying them often SYN harass Like many celebrities, she complained of being persecuted by the press. —persecutor noun [countable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
persecute• Human rights advocates say racial minorities continue to be persecuted.• She was being persecuted and it was part of a carefully laid plan.• Duke said he was being persecuted by a hostile media.• As a result, he was persecuted by both regimes.• Later, in Victorian times, birds of prey were persecuted by game keepers, by taxidermists and by egg collectors.• The narrators have been persecuted for standing up for their principles.• Since society does not generally punish people for their illnesses, it followed that society should not persecute gays.• Countries all over Europe have persecuted gypsies for centuries.• Now, as Brown moves to expand that empire, he says he is feeling persecuted himself.• But tensions continued as victims of the repression took revenge against the cadres who had persecuted them.• Catholics were often persecuted under communism.• Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you...Origin persecute (1400-1500) French persécuter, from Latin persecutus, past participle of persequi “to pursue, follow” 