Af-flic'tion, n.

n. [Lat. afflictio, Fr. & Pr. affliction.]

1Sense 1. The cause of continued pain of body or mind, as sickness, losses, &c. “A biting affliction.” Shak.

2Sense 2. The state of being afflicted; a state of pain, distress, or grief. “Some virtues are seen only in affliction.” Addison.

My enemies, who come to stare At my affliction, and perhaps to insult. Milton.

Synonyms—Calamity; sorrow; distress; grief; pain; adversity; misery; wretchedness; misfortune.—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 arises from some powerful cause, such as the loss of what is most dear—friends, health, property, &c. We do not speak of mere sickness or pain as “afflictions,” though a person who suffers from them is said to be afflicted; but deprivations of every kind, such as deafness, blindness, loss of limbs, &c., are called afflictions, showing that the term applies particularly to prolonged sources of suffering. Sorrow and grief always imply mental suffering. Grief is the stronger term of the two, usually denoting sorrow from some definite cause, and that always in the past. Thus, we feel grief for the death of a friend, and sorrow during his illness; the past delinquencies of a child are remembered with grief; his present misconduct is looked upon with sorrow. 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.