persecute
/ˈpɜːsɪkjuːt/US/ˈpɝsəkjut/
persecute verb: to pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief.
Verb
persecute (third-person singular simple present persecutes, present participle persecuting, simple past and past participle persecuted)
- To pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief.
- He who persecutes one will persecute all.
- I have heard, brethren, how sharply Antichrist persecuteth you, in vexing the faithful servants of Christ with divers and strange kinds of afflictions.1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC
- To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy.
- Synonyms:
- annoy
- To kill many of one species of animal, with the intent of removing them from human habitats.
- Humans have been persecuting wolves in this forest for centuries.
persecute meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
persecute in Hindi
- to pursue in a manner to injure, grieve, or afflict
- प्रताड़ना pratāṛnā
- to harass with importunity
- प्रताड़ना pratāṛnā
persecute in Tamil
- இடர்ப்படுத்து, துன்புறுத்து, தொந்தரவு கொடு, வாட்டு
persecute in Urdu
- آزار دینا, ناک میں دم کرنا
persecute in Bengali
- নির্যাতন করা, উত্ত্যক্ত করা
More languagesFewer languages
- persecute in Malayalam
- ഉപദ്രവിക്കുക, പീഡിപ്പിക്കുക, ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടിക്കുക, ഹിംസിക്കുക
- persecute in Kannada
- ಕಾಡು kāḍu
- persecute in Sanskrit
- वेति véti
- persecute in Arabic
- اِضْطَهَدَ iḍṭahada
- persecute in Indonesian
- menganiaya
- persecute in Persian
- تعقیب کردن ta'qib kardan
- persecute in Thai
- ข่มเหง kòm-hěeng
Examples of persecute in a sentence
- In medieval Europe, Jews were often linked to usury and therefore persecuted by authorities.
- Lined up solidly with the Pimpernels and with the persecuted.
- That old liar pulled a Galileo gambit and made sure everyone would hate him so he could claim he was just a persecuted free thinker.
Synonyms of persecute
Forms of persecute
| third-person singular present | persecutes |
|---|---|
| present participle | persecuting |
| past participle | persecuted |
| past | persecuted |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | persecutest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | persecutedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | persecuteth |
| alternative form (obsolete) | persequte |
| alternative form (obsolete) | persequute |
Origin of persecute
Borrowed from Middle French persécuter, from Ecclesiastical Latin persecutor, from Latin persequor, persecutus (“follow up, pursue”), from per- (“through”) + sequor (“follow”) (English sequel). Compare prosecute. Cf. also pursue.
Words formed from persecute
Questions about persecute
- What does persecute mean?
- Persecute means to pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief.
- What is persecute in Hindi?
- Persecute in Hindi is प्रताड़ना (pratāṛnā). See Persecute meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is persecute?
- Persecute is a verb.
- How do you pronounce persecute?
- Persecute is pronounced /ˈpɝsəkjut/ (US).
- What is the past tense of persecute?
- The past tense of persecute is persecuted.
Words near persecute in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: persecute (page history and authors); persecute (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); persecute (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Persecute (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); persecute (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); वेति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-persecute.wav.
Cite this entry: “persecute.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/persecute. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.