to beleaguer
2
8.6
- verb
- /bɪˈliːɡər/
:
acosar
- Parents, beleaguered by the pressures of everyday survival, impatiently stifle the intense wonder of their infant by ignoring, deflecting, and even punishing his joys of discovery.
Examples
-
Summit County was beleaguered by large crowds, high lift ticket prices, and low annual snowfall leading up to the tournament.
Blog text (16) -
Yeah, I was beleaguered by females in those days.
-
So clearly the pressure is mounting once again on our rather beleaguered NHS.
-
You are aware that there is rarely redemption for us beleaguered parents, right?
Blog text (17) -
An Egyptian government beleaguered with domestic problems has little energy to focus on countering Iranian and Turkish aspirations and influence.
Academic text (2012) -
Beleaguered by a multitude of complex problems, Iranian hard-liners face a new reality: human rights and human dignity are far more resilient than raw military power.
Academic text (2004) -
The manager was beleaguered by constant complaints from the staff about their workload.
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After weeks of relentless campaigning, the candidate felt beleaguered by negative media coverage.
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Many beleaguered parents are struggling to balance work and remote schooling for their children.
Synonyms
302
4.0
Annoy someone again and again to make them feel worried or uncomfortable
245
1.9
To make fun of someone in a way that annoys them
85
3.7
To annoy someone by bothering them repeatedly
68
3.8
To scare or hurt someone, often someone weaker
58
6.1
To follow and bother someone without stopping
39
4.7
To annoy someone by asking them the same thing many times
34
3.2
To annoy someone by asking for things again and again
15
7.9
To surround and cause repeated problems for someone or something
12
8.4
Annoy or disturb someone repeatedly
3
7.6
To bother someone again and again so they feel upset or tired
3
8.0
To annoy someone with small, repeated complaints
2
8.2
Cause ongoing trouble and confusion for people or things
To annoy someone again and again with small problems
To frighten or shout at someone to make them do what you want
Make someone feel bad by bossing or bullying them
Antonyms
How Troublesome
- NSFW
107
7.2
98
7.0
302
4.0
2
8.6
34
3.2
∞
1.0
246
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
beleaguer = be + leaguer
The verb is historically formed from be- + a root meaning 'camp', but the root is not a familiar English word and the figurative sense 'to harass/beset' is not transparently predictable by learners.
Etymology
Beleaguer later took on a more general sense of being 'surrounded by trouble'. So to beleaguer someone now can mean to keep bothering or harassing them until they feel under heavy pressure.