beleaguer

beleaguer
verb
be·;lea·;guer bi-;l;-g;r  b;-
beleaguered; beleaguering bi-;l;-g(;-)ri;  b;-
Synonyms of beleaguer
transitive verb

1
: besiege
a town beleaguered by an army
a beleaguered city
2
: trouble, harass
beleaguered parents
an economically beleaguered city
beleaguerment
bi-;l;-g;r-m;nt
b;-
 noun


Did you know?
There's no getting around it: beleaguer is a "troubling" word. It comes from the Dutch verb belegeren, which in turn combines leger, meaning "camp," and the prefix be- (a relative of the English be- meaning "about" or "around"). While the Dutch word, meaning "to camp around," is neutral, its descendent beleaguer implies a whole heap of fuss and bother. Beleaguer was first used in the late 16th century, and is still used today, as a synonym of besiege; indeed, an army beleaguering or besieging a castle may also be said to be "camping around" it, albeit with nefarious rather than recreational purposes. This sense of beleaguer was almost immediately joined, however, by its now more common—and less martial—meaning of "to cause constant or repeated trouble for."

Synonyms
besiege
blockade
invest
leaguer [archaic]
Examples of beleaguer in a Sentence
the lack of funds that beleaguers schools
beleaguered the castle for months
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Many Minneapolis police officers saw the report as a searing indictment that deals yet another blow to a department beleaguered by low morale and a staffing shortage.
—Dan Simmons, BostonGlobe.com, 17 June 2023
Officials on both sides gave figures that indicated about 16 people have died in connection with the flooding, which has added misery to the lives of Ukrainians beleaguered by the war.
—Jamey Keaten, USA TODAY, 9 June 2023
Meanwhile, Mono Lake, beleaguered by three years of drought, is expected to rise by several feet, a welcome reprieve as the lake has struggled to reach target levels.
—Evan Bush, NBC News, 6 June 2023
In a city beleaguered by gun violence, Jaylen was one of 100 middle school students honored Tuesday for writing about their experiences with violence at the 2023 Do The Write Thing challenge, an event co-chaired by Latham and Watkins and Communities in Schools of Chicago.
—Nell Salzman, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2023

Word History
Etymology
Dutch belegeren, from be- (akin to Old English be-) + leger camp; akin to Old High German legar bed — more at lair

First Known Use
1587, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of beleaguer was in 1587
See more words from the same year