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AFFLICTION
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A cause of great suffering and distress
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("affliction" is a kind of...):
trouble (an event causing distress or pain)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "affliction"):
calvary; martyrdom (any experience that causes intense suffering)
trial; tribulation; visitation (an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event)
curse; torment (a severe affliction)
attack (a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition)
bane; curse; nemesis; scourge (something causing misery or death)
Derivation:
afflict (cause great unhappiness for; distress)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A condition of suffering or distress due to ill health
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("affliction" is a kind of...):
health problem; ill health; unhealthiness (a state in which you are unable to function normally and without pain)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "affliction"):
deformity; malformation; misshapenness (an affliction in which some part of the body is misshapen or malformed)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A state of great suffering and distress due to adversity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("affliction" is a kind of...):
adversity; hard knocks; hardship (a state of misfortune or affliction)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "affliction"):
cross; crown of thorns (any affliction that causes great suffering)
Derivation:
afflict (cause physical pain or suffering in)
afflict (cause great unhappiness for; distress)
Context examples:
She then went away, walking on tiptoe out of the room, as if she supposed her young friend's affliction could be increased by noise.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
The affliction of the Bertrams was little felt in the family.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an excellent general practice; but his age, and an affliction of the nature of St. Vitus’s dance from which he suffered, had very much thinned it.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was as follows: MY DEAR SIR, I feel myself called upon, by our relationship, and my situation in life, to condole with you on the grievous affliction you are now suffering under, of which we were yesterday informed by a letter from Hertfordshire.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
She told me one evening, when more disposed to be communicative than usual, that John's conduct, and the threatened ruin of the family, had been a source of profound affliction to her: but she had now, she said, settled her mind, and formed her resolution.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
In spite of this affliction, she looked unusually gay and graceful as she glided away.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
I am sensible of having felt that a dignity attached to me among the rest of the boys, and that I was important in my affliction.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Her mother's affliction was hardly less, and Elinor was the only one of the three, who seemed to consider the separation as any thing short of eternal.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
When really touched by affliction, her active powers had been all benumbed; and neither Lady Bertram nor Tom had received from her the smallest support or attempt at support.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
He was evidently a young man of considerable taste in reading, though principally in poetry; and besides the persuasion of having given him at least an evening's indulgence in the discussion of subjects, which his usual companions had probably no concern in, she had the hope of being of real use to him in some suggestions as to the duty and benefit of struggling against affliction, which had naturally grown out of their conversation.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
