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affliction

An affliction makes you suffer, but you have to deal with it anyway. Diseases are often said to be afflictions, but the word can mean just about anything that causes great suffering.

The word afflict, which makes up the first part of the word, means to cause this type of trouble. "Tom liked to afflict pain on his brother. His brother considered Tom just one more affliction he had to bear." The word can also be used as an exaggeration of something that isn't so bad––"Homework is often seen as an affliction by students and parents alike."

DEFINITIONS OF: affliction

n a cause of great suffering and distress

Types:: show 15 types...; hide 15 types...; 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; fire
a severe trial; anxiety attack
a sudden acute episode of intense anxiety and feelings of panic; flare
a sudden recurrence or worsening of symptoms; ictus, raptus, seizure
a sudden occurrence (or recurrence) of a disease; spot, touch
a slight attack of illness; CVA, apoplexy, cerebrovascular accident, stroke
a sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel leads to oxygen lack in the brain; convulsion, fit, paroxysm
a sudden uncontrollable attack; hysterics
an attack of hysteria; occlusion
closure or blockage (as of a blood vessel); heart attack
a sudden severe instance of abnormal heart function

Type of:: trouble
an event causing distress or pain

n a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity

Types:: cross, crown of thorns
any affliction that causes great suffering

Type of:: adversity, hard knocks, hardship
a state of misfortune or affliction

n a condition of suffering or distress due to ill health

Types:: show 10 types...; hide 10 types...; deformity, malformation, misshapenness
an affliction in which some part of the body is misshapen or malformed; Arnold-Chiari deformity
deformity in which part of the brain protrudes through the skull; clawfoot, pes cavus
a deformity of the foot characterized by an abnormally high arch and hyperextension of the toes which gives the foot the appearance of a claw; cleft foot
a deformity in which the space between the third and fourth toes extends up into the foot; clubfoot, talipes
congenital deformity of the foot usually marked by a curled shape or twisted position of the ankle and heel and toes; chicken breast, pigeon breast
abnormal protrusion of the breastbone caused by rickets; plagiocephaly
congenital malformation of the skull in which the main axis of the skull is oblique; scaphocephaly
congenital malformation of the skull which is long and narrow; frequently accompanied by mental retardation; valgus
a deformity in which there is an abnormal displacement of part of a limb away from the midline of the body; varus
a deformity in which part of a limb is turned inward to an abnormal degree

Type of:: health problem, ill health, unhealthiness
a state in which you are unable to function normally and without pain

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