beleaguered

English

Etymology

From beleaguer +‎ -ed.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɪˈliːɡəd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

beleaguered (comparative more beleaguered, superlative most beleaguered)

1. Besieged; surrounded by enemy troops.

   a beleaguered stronghold

   a beleaguered town

   • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 220:

     4,500 British and Indian troops and twelve thousand camp-followers, including some three dozen British wives, children and nannies, found themselves beleaguered in what Kaye described as little better than ‘sheep-folds on the plain’.

2. (figurative) Beset by trouble or difficulty.

   a beleaguered ego

   a beleaguered identity

   a beleaguered real estate market

   • 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     Chelsea were coping comfortably as Liverpool left Luis Suarez too isolated. Steven Gerrard was also being forced to drop too deep to offer support to the beleaguered Jay Spearing and Jordan Henderson rather than add attacking potency alongside the Uruguayan.

   • 2022 September 21, Mel Holley, “Network News: MPs debate Avanti West Coast future as MD departs”, in RAIL, number 966, page 15, photo caption:

     Ministers have not ruled out stripping the beleaguered operator of its franchise when it comes up for renewal on October 16.

   • 2022 October 16, Pippa Crerar, “Liz Truss fights for survival as even allies say she could have only days left”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     The beleaguered prime minister will attempt to shore up her crumbling support by gathering her cabinet ministers at No 10 on Monday evening and then embarking on a series of meetings with mutinous Tory MPs before the next budget in a fortnight’s time.

Antonyms

• unbeleaguered

Translations

besieged, surrounded by enemy troops

• Czech: obležený
• German: belagert (de), umzingelt (de)
• Russian: осаждённый (ru) (osaždjónnyj), окружённый (ru) (okružónnyj)
• Spanish: asediado (es), sitiado (es)

beset by trouble or difficulty

• Dutch: aangeslagen (nl)
• Finnish: vaikeuksissa oleva
• French: en difficulté (fr), mal en point (fr), éprouvé (fr), assiégé (fr), à bout de souffle (fr)
• German: angeschlagen (de), überlastet (de), unter massivem Druck stehend
• Portuguese: fustigado (pt)
• Russian: многострадальный (ru) (mnogostradalʹnyj)
• Spanish: hostigado (es), acuciado (es)
• Swedish: hårt ansatt, trängd (sv), hårt pressad
• Turkish: yıpranmış

Verb

beleaguered

1. simple past and past participle of beleaguer