as in harassment
something that causes mental distress
The media's constant persecution was beginning to affect their lives.
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Recent Examples of persecution
For years, many of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority have embarked on rickety wooden boats to try to reach neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, in a bid to flee persecution in Myanmar or overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.
—
CNN Money, 15 Apr. 2026
That same year, his family, fleeing persecution, moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
—Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 14 Apr. 2026
Trump spent the first several months of his second term targeting Lula’s government, alleging persecution of Bolsonaro and his supporters.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 14 Apr. 2026
But proselytizing to Muslims by non-Muslims is a crime, and some other Christian denominations have faced persecution from Algerian authorities, who have closed their churches.
—Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for persecution
CNN Money, 15 Apr. 2026
That same year, his family, fleeing persecution, moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
—Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 14 Apr. 2026
Trump spent the first several months of his second term targeting Lula’s government, alleging persecution of Bolsonaro and his supporters.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 14 Apr. 2026
But proselytizing to Muslims by non-Muslims is a crime, and some other Christian denominations have faced persecution from Algerian authorities, who have closed their churches.
—Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for persecution
Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecution
Noun
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Sports betting can tempt athletes to manipulate games or lead them to face harassment from gamblers upset with their performance.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
27 Apr. 2026
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According to the court documents, Vasquez reported the mistreatment after Thanksgiving 2024, and in response, the harassment escalated.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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But fights are just as integral to the Netflix show created by Lee Sung Jin, and the series’ sound team needed to do even more meticulous work building visceral senses of anger, stress, and dread that slowly swallow up the characters and steer them into making a compounding set of poor decisions.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
24 Apr. 2026
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As Columbia, Rodriguez takes big, bold swings, shifting from manic exuberance to bruised vulnerability to feral anger over the course of the night.—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Inside the formula, castor oil, soybean oil, and panthenol leave hair smooth and shiny, while calming chamomile and calendula extracts keep your scalp irritation-free.—
Sarah Felbin,
Allure,
26 Apr. 2026
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Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe exited in the eighth with left wrist irritation.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Persecution.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecution. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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