- 1persecute somebody (for something) to treat somebody in a cruel and unfair way, especially because of their race, religion or political beliefs Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. persecuted minorities Wordfinderequalbias, discriminate, equal, feminism, homophobia, human right, marginalize, persecute, race, society See related entries: Social justice
- 2persecute somebody to deliberately annoy somebody all the time and make their life unpleasant synonym harass Why are the media persecuting him like this? Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French persecuter, from Latin persecut- ‘followed with hostility’, from the verb persequi, from per- ‘through, utterly’ + sequi ‘follow, pursue’.
persecute
verbBrE BrE//ˈpɜːsɪkjuːt//; NAmE NAmE//ˈpɜːrsɪkjuːt//
[often passive]Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they persecute BrE BrE//ˈpɜːsɪkjuːt//; NAmE NAmE//ˈpɜːrsɪkjuːt//
he / she / it persecutes BrE BrE//ˈpɜːsɪkjuːts//; NAmE NAmE//ˈpɜːrsɪkjuːts//
past simple persecuted BrE BrE//ˈpɜːsɪkjuːtɪd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈpɜːrsɪkjuːtɪd//
past participle persecuted BrE BrE//ˈpɜːsɪkjuːtɪd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈpɜːrsɪkjuːtɪd//
-ing form persecuting BrE BrE//ˈpɜːsɪkjuːtɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈpɜːrsɪkjuːtɪŋ//
Social justiceCheck pronunciation: persecute
