 4 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
affliction
noun
1: a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity
2: a condition of suffering or distress due to ill health
3: a cause of great suffering and distress
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Affliction \Af*flic"tion\, noun [F. affliction, L. afflictio, fr.
affligere.]
1. The cause of continued pain of body or mind, as sickness,
losses, etc.; an instance of grievous distress; a pain or
grief.
To repay that money will be a biting affliction.
--Shak.
2. The state of being afflicted; a state of pain, distress,
or grief.
Some virtues are seen only in affliction. --Addison.
Syn: Calamity; sorrow; distress; grief; pain; adversity;
misery; wretchedness; misfortune; trouble; hardship.
Usage: {Affliction}, {Sorrow}, {Grief}, {Distress}.
Affliction and sorrow are terms of wide and general
application; grief and distress have reference to
particular cases. Affliction is the stronger term. The
suffering lies deeper in the soul, and usually arises
from some powerful cause, such as the loss of what is
most dear -- friends, health, etc. We do not speak of
mere sickness or pain as ''an affliction,'' though one
who suffers from either is said to be afflicted; but
deprivations of every kind, such as deafness,
blindness, loss of limbs, etc., are called
afflictions, showing that term applies particularly to
prolonged sources of suffering. Sorrow and grief are
much alike in meaning, but grief is the stronger term
of the two, usually denoting poignant mental suffering
for some definite cause, as, grief for the death of a
dear friend; sorrow is more reflective, and is tinged
with regret, as, the misconduct of a child is looked
upon with sorrow. Grief is often violent and
demonstrative; sorrow deep and brooding. Distress
implies extreme suffering, either bodily or mental. In
its higher stages, it denotes pain of a restless,
agitating kind, and almost always supposes some
struggle of mind or body. Affliction is allayed, grief
subsides, sorrow is soothed, distress is mitigated.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
161 Moby Thesaurus words for "affliction":
abnormality, acute disease, adverse circumstances, adversity,
affection, aggravation, ailment, allergic disease, allergy,
anguish, annoyance, atrophy, bacterial disease, bane, birth defect,
bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, blight,
bugbear, bummer, burden, burden of care, calamity, calvary,
cankerworm of care, cardiovascular disease, care, catastrophe,
chronic disease, circulatory disease, complaint, complication,
condition, congenital defect, cross, crown of thorns, crucible,
crushing burden, curse, death, defect, deficiency disease,
deformity, degenerative disease, destruction, difficulties,
difficulty, disability, disaster, disease, disorder, distemper,
distress, dole, downer, encumbrance, endemic, endemic disease,
endocrine disease, epidemic disease, evil, functional disease,
fungus disease, gall, gall and wormwood, gastrointestinal disease,
genetic disease, grief, grievance, handicap, hard knocks,
hard life, hard lot, hardcase, hardship, harm, heartache,
heartbreak, hereditary disease, iatrogenic disease, illness,
indisposition, infectious disease, infirmity, infliction,
irritation, load, malady, malaise, mischance, misery, misfortune,
mishap, morbidity, morbus, muscular disease, nemesis,
neurological disease, nutritional disease, occupational disease,
open wound, oppression, ordeal, organic disease, pack of troubles,
pain, pandemic disease, pathological condition, pathology,
peck of troubles, pest, pestilence, plague, plant disease, plight,
predicament, pressure, protozoan disease, psychosomatic disease,
regret, respiratory disease, rigor, rockiness, rue, running sore,
scourge, sea of troubles, secondary disease, seediness,
sickishness, sickness, signs, sorrow, stress, stress of life,
suffering, symptomatology, symptomology, symptoms, syndrome,
the pip, thorn, torment, trial, tribulation, trouble, troubles,
urogenital disease, vale of tears, vexation, vicissitude,
virus disease, visitation, wasting disease, waters of bitterness,
weight, woe, worm disease, wretchedness
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
AFFLICTION, noun An acclimatizing process preparing the soul for
another and bitter world.
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