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per·se·cute
 persecute
- pronunciation:
- puhr
s
kyut
| part of speech: |
transitive verb |
| inflections: |
persecuted, persecutes, persecuting |
| definition 1: |
to subject (esp. those belonging to a different political, religious, or racial group) to persistent harassment, punishment, or ill-treatment.
Among those persecuted by the Nazis were Jews, Romanies, Poles, and political opponents, as well as people with disabilities.- synonyms:
- harass, oppress
- similar words:
- abuse, crucify, discriminate against, dragoon, hector, maltreat, mistreat, outrage, tyrannize, victimize
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| definition 2: |
to annoy or bother persistently; pester.
The bullies persecuted the new boy.- synonyms:
- annoy, badger, bother, harass, harry, hassle, pester, plague, torment
- similar words:
- aggravate, exasperate, hound, irritate, nag, needle, nettle, provoke, pursue, trouble, vex
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| related words: |
martyr, misuse, molest, torture, wrong |
| derivations: |
persecutive (adj.), persecutory (adj.), persecutor (n.) |
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