to besiege

Examples

• All

• President Obama is one of the most politically besieged presidents in modern times.

  Blog text (29)

• By the third inning, we were absolutely besieged by people.

  Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos (2006)

• School leaders are besieged with much to do, limited resources, and little time with which to do it.

  Academic text (2005)

• The world's media besieged these agencies with questions.

  Aliens at the Pentagon (2018)

• At any rate, I personally feel besieged in a profession I love.

  Blog text (29)

• Inform the Foreign Ministry that we are besieged by refugees.

  The Black Pimpernel (2007)

• Teacher-librarians find themselves besieged with expectations from parents, teachers, administrators, and students.

  Academic text (2008)

• The minister of a large house of worship is besieged by requests for visits and consultations.

  Fiction book (1997)

• This hospital is constantly besieged by throngs of feverish admirers.

  Star! (1968)

• He's been besieged by the media, his job may be in jeopardy, and as for his fiancee, fellow English teacher Emily Montgomery, well, who knows?

  In & Out (1997)

Synonyms

H

to hound

vsto besiege

58 6.1

To follow and bother someone without stopping

typically uses many demands or attention to overwhelm rather than chase or pursuit

H

to harass

vsto besiege

41 4.4

Attack an enemy again and again in small ways to wear them down

is less about hostile attack and more about overwhelming with requests or attention

B

to bombard

vsto besiege

39 5.6

To give someone many questions or messages quickly

is broader, applying to many forms of persistent demands not just steady flow

B

to badger

vsto besiege

39 4.7

To annoy someone by asking them the same thing many times

overwhelms through large numbers or constant attention rather than just annoyance

P

to pester

vsto besiege

34 3.2

To annoy someone by asking for things again and again

involves a greater scale and intensity of requests or attention, not mild bother

B

to beset

vsto besiege

15 7.9

To surround and cause repeated problems for someone or something

focuses on many requests or persistent attention rather than surrounding pressure

B

to bombard with

vsto besiege

13 5.7

To give someone many questions or requests at the same time

focuses on rapid overload while the key can mean ongoing persistent attention

D

to deluge

vsto besiege

5 7.4

To give someone so much work or so many requests that they cannot cope

is focused on many demands and attention rather than single incidents

B

to barrage

vsto besiege

3 7.8

To send a large fast stream of questions or messages to someone

is used for many persistent demands rather than only a steady flow

I

to importune

vsto besiege

• Formal

3 9.6

To ask someone again and again for something in an annoying way

is about overwhelming by sheer quantity or attention rather than urgent pleading

B

to bombard with questions

vsto besiege

1 5.5

Ask someone many quick questions until they cannot answer easily

is similar but can involve other requests or continuous attention, not only questions

S

to swamp someone with tasks

vsto besiege

• Informal

6.3

To give someone more work than they can do

refers more broadly to many requests or attention not only work overload

Antonyms

I

to ignore

∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

How Overwhelmed

to overwhelm

88 3.9

to inundate

40 6.8

to besiege

12 7.8

to bombard

39 5.6

to badger

39 4.7

to pester

34 3.2

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology