Word
stricken
Phoneticsstrick·en
US/ˈstɹɪkən/
UK/stɹˈɪkən/
Definitions
01affected by disaster or disease
adj. suffering severely from a disaster, disease, or other bad situation.
adj. severely affected or overwhelmed by a specific external calamity, illness, or misfortune.
“The charity is sending food and water to the drought-stricken region.”
“International aid agencies struggled to reach the earthquake-stricken villages in the remote mountainous provinces before the winter snows arrived.”
Formal
Usage
Often used in compound adjectives like 'poverty-stricken' or 'grief-stricken'.
Synonyms
Antonyms
02overwhelmed by emotion
adj. showing a very strong, painful emotion on your face.
adj. manifesting intense emotional distress or shock, particularly in facial expression.
“He looked at her with a panic-stricken expression when he realized he lost his passport.”
“She stood in the doorway with a horror-stricken face, unable to comprehend the scene of destruction before her.”
Literary
Teaching tip
This sense is common in literature to describe a character's immediate physical reaction to bad news.
Synonyms
03disabled or damaged
adj. seriously damaged or unable to move, especially a ship or a vehicle.
adj. rendered immobile or seriously incapacitated by mechanical failure or physical damage.
“The coast guard went out to help the stricken ship during the storm.”
“Tugboats were dispatched to tow the stricken tanker back to the harbour after its engines failed in heavy seas.”
Technical
Usage
Frequently used in nautical and military contexts to describe vessels or aircraft.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English striken, ystriken, from Old English stricen, ġestricen, from Proto-West Germanic strikan, from Proto-Germanic strikanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *strīkaną (“to strike”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian strieken, Dutch gestreken, German Low German streken, German gestrichen.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/stricken