If a problem or illness afflicts a person or thing, they or it suffer from it: It is an illness that afflicts women more than men. a country afflicted by civil war

to affect somebody/something in an unpleasant or harmful way afflict somebody/something Severe drought has afflicted the region. the many problems that afflict our society Aid will be sent to the afflicted areas. be afflicted with something About 40 per cent of the country's population is afflicted with the disease.

Examples of afflict in a Sentence The disease afflicts an estimated two million people every year. the South was afflicted by a severe drought Recent Examples on the Web And this appears to disproportionately afflict young male adults.