Affliction — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Affliction (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. a state of great suffering of body or mind

   "she listened with deep affliction as her daughter told her about the latest trouble she was in"

   similar: agony, anguish, distress, excruciation, hurt, misery, pain, rack, strait(s), torment, torture, travail, tribulation, woe
   related: discomfort, cross, crucible, trial, heartache, heartbreak, joylessness, sadness, sorrow, unhappiness, emergency, pinch, asperity, difficulty, hardship, rigor, ache, pang, smarting, soreness, stitch, throe, twinge, danger, jeopardy, trouble
   near: comfort, consolation, solace, alleviation, assuagement, ease, relief, peace, security, well-being

2. deep sadness especially for the loss of someone or something loved

   "felt such great affliction over the destruction of the beautiful old home"

   similar: anguish, dolefulness, dolor, grief, heartache, heartbreak, sorriness, sorrow, woe
   related: agony, distress, pain, suffering, torment, blue devils, blues, dejection, depression, desolateness, desolation, despair, despondence, despondency, disconsolateness, dispiritedness, doldrums, downheartedness, dreariness, dumps, forlornness, gloom, gloominess, glumness, heartsickness, joylessness, melancholy, miserableness, misery, mopes, oppression, sorrowfulness, unhappiness, woefulness, wretchedness, contrition, guilt, regret, remorse, rue, self-reproach, shame, melancholia, self-pity
   opposite: blessedness, bliss, blissfulness, cheer, cheerfulness, cheeriness, delight, ecstasy, elatedness, elation, euphoria, exhilaration, exuberance, exultation, felicity, gladness, gladsomeness, glee, gleefulness, happiness, joy, joyfulness, joyousness, jubilation, pleasure, rapture, rapturousness
   near: gaiety, gayness, humor, jollity, joviality, lightheartedness, merriment, merrymaking, mirth, mirthfulness, hopefulness, optimism, sunniness, enjoyment, content, contentedness, contentment

3. a source of harm or misfortune

   "alcohol has been his affliction ever since he took his first drink at the age of 12"

   similar: bane, curse, nemesis, scourge
   related: hex, hoodoo, jinx, danger, hazard, menace, peril, risk, threat, trouble, booby trap, catch, pitfall, snag
   opposite: benefit, blessing, boon, felicity, godsend, good, manna, windfall
   near: advantage, aid, assistance, gift, help, relief, support, comfort, consolation, solace, delight, joy, pleasure, armor, defense, guard, protection, safeguard, safety, security, shield

4. a source of persistent emotional distress

   "suffered from afflictions that only a professional therapist could deal with"

   similar: demon, hang-up, terror, torment
   related: bête noire, bogey, bugaboo, bugbear, hobgoblin, ogre

5. something that causes loss or pain

   "cronyism and corruption are afflictions on the body politic"

   similar: damage, detriment, harm, hurt, injury
   related: disservice, injustice, outrage, wrong, affront, dart, indignity, insult, offense, beating, crippling, mayhem, mutilation, defacement, disability, disablement, disfigurement, impairment, lesion, rupture, strain, abrasion, chafe, scrape, scratch, boo-boo, bruise, contusion, swelling, wound, bump, concussion, cut, gash, laceration, burn, scald, scar, scathe, sear
   near: healing, recovery, cure, fix, remedy