plague
Synonyms:
(verb) afflict, agonize, anguish, badger, bedevil, beset, besiege, bother, curse, disturb, excruciate, fret, harass, harrow, harry, hector, irritate, nuisance, persecute, rack, torment, torture, vex, worry.
(noun) pest, pestilence.
Related Words:
(noun) blight, calamity, contagion, curse, epidemic, infection, infestation, influenza, invasion, outbreak, pandemic, pest, scourge.
(verb) afflict, bedevil, beleaguer, bother, haunt, hound, infest.
Synonym Study 1 (Dictionary.com):
Bother, annoy, plague, and tease imply persistent interference with one's comfort or peace of mind.
Bother suggests causing trouble or weariness or repeatedly interrupting in the midst of pressing duties.
To annoy is to vex or irritate by bothering.
Plague is a strong word, connoting unremitting annoyance and harassment.
To tease is to provoke or irritate persistently with petty distractions.
Synonym Study 2 (Merriam-Webster):
Worry, annoy, harass, harry, plague, pester, and tease mean to disturb or irritate by persistent acts.
Worry implies an incessant goading or attacking that drives one to desperation:
pursued a policy of worrying the enemy.
Annoy implies disturbing one's composure or peace of mind by intrusion, interference, or petty attacks:
you're doing that just to annoy me.
Harass implies petty persecutions or burdensome demands that exhaust one's nervous or mental power:
harassed on all sides by creditors.
Harry may imply heavy oppression or maltreatment:
the strikers had been harried by thugs.
Plague implies a painful and persistent affliction:
plagued all her life by poverty.
Pester stresses the repetition of petty attacks:
constantly pestered with trivial complaints.
Tease suggests an attempt to break down one's resistance or rouse to wrath:
children teased the dog.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English plage<Latin plāga stripe, wound, Late Latin: pestilence. British dictionary: C14: from Late Latin plāga pestilence, from Latin: a blow; related to Greek plēgē a stroke, Latin plangere to strike. —Dictionary.com. //
First Known Use of plague: Noun: 14th century. Verb: 15th century. History and Etymology for plague: Noun: Middle English plage, from Late Latin plaga, from Latin, blow; akin to Latin plangere to strike — more at plaint. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.
(verb) afflict, agonize, anguish, badger, bedevil, beset, besiege, bother, curse, disturb, excruciate, fret, harass, harrow, harry, hector, irritate, nuisance, persecute, rack, torment, torture, vex, worry.
(noun) pest, pestilence.
Related Words:
(noun) blight, calamity, contagion, curse, epidemic, infection, infestation, influenza, invasion, outbreak, pandemic, pest, scourge.
(verb) afflict, bedevil, beleaguer, bother, haunt, hound, infest.
Synonym Study 1 (Dictionary.com):
Bother, annoy, plague, and tease imply persistent interference with one's comfort or peace of mind.
Bother suggests causing trouble or weariness or repeatedly interrupting in the midst of pressing duties.
To annoy is to vex or irritate by bothering.
Plague is a strong word, connoting unremitting annoyance and harassment.
To tease is to provoke or irritate persistently with petty distractions.
Synonym Study 2 (Merriam-Webster):
Worry, annoy, harass, harry, plague, pester, and tease mean to disturb or irritate by persistent acts.
Worry implies an incessant goading or attacking that drives one to desperation:
pursued a policy of worrying the enemy.
Annoy implies disturbing one's composure or peace of mind by intrusion, interference, or petty attacks:
you're doing that just to annoy me.
Harass implies petty persecutions or burdensome demands that exhaust one's nervous or mental power:
harassed on all sides by creditors.
Harry may imply heavy oppression or maltreatment:
the strikers had been harried by thugs.
Plague implies a painful and persistent affliction:
plagued all her life by poverty.
Pester stresses the repetition of petty attacks:
constantly pestered with trivial complaints.
Tease suggests an attempt to break down one's resistance or rouse to wrath:
children teased the dog.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English plage<Latin plāga stripe, wound, Late Latin: pestilence. British dictionary: C14: from Late Latin plāga pestilence, from Latin: a blow; related to Greek plēgē a stroke, Latin plangere to strike. —Dictionary.com. //
First Known Use of plague: Noun: 14th century. Verb: 15th century. History and Etymology for plague: Noun: Middle English plage, from Late Latin plaga, from Latin, blow; akin to Latin plangere to strike — more at plaint. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.