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beleaguer

be·lea·guer
B b

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [bih-lee-ger]
    • /bɪˈli gər/
    • /bɪ.ˈliː.ɡə(r)/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [bih-lee-ger]
    • /bɪˈli gər/

Definitions of beleaguer word

  • verb beleaguer to trouble persistently; harass 3
  • verb beleaguer to lay siege to 3
  • verb transitive beleaguer to besiege by encircling, as with an army 3
  • verb transitive beleaguer to beset, as with difficulties; harass 3
  • verb with object beleaguer to surround with military forces. 1
  • verb with object beleaguer to surround or beset, as with troubles. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of beleaguer

First appearance:

before 1580
One of the 35% oldest English words
First recorded in 1580-90; be- + leaguer1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Beleaguer

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

beleaguer popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 50% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

beleaguer usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for beleaguer

verb beleaguer

  • beset — If someone or something is beset by problems or fears, they have many problems or fears which affect them severely.
  • bedevil — If you are bedevilled by something unpleasant, it causes you a lot of problems over a period of time.
  • plague — French La Peste. a novel (1947) by Albert Camus.
  • annoy — If someone or something annoys you, it makes you fairly angry and impatient.
  • gnaw — to bite or chew on, especially persistently.

Antonyms for beleaguer

verb beleaguer

  • aid — Aid is money, equipment, or services that are provided for people, countries, or organizations who need them but cannot provide them for themselves.
  • assist — If you assist someone, you help them to do a job or task by doing part of the work for them.
  • soothe — to tranquilize or calm, as a person or the feelings; relieve, comfort, or refresh: soothing someone's anger; to soothe someone with a hot drink.
  • please — (used as a polite addition to requests, commands, etc.) if you would be so obliging; kindly: Please come here. Will you please turn the radio off?
  • help — to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist: He planned to help me with my work. Let me help you with those packages.

See also

Matching words

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