Word.ws English Dictionary

persecuted

/ˈpɝsəˌkjutɪd/

persecuted is the simple past and past participle of persecute.

Meaning of persecute

Verb

persecute (third-person singular simple present persecutes, present participle persecuting, simple past and past participle persecuted)

  1. 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.
    Synonyms:
    oppress, harass, distress
  2. To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy.
    Synonyms:
    annoy
  3. 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.

Questions about persecuted

What is persecuted the simple past and past participle of?
Persecuted is the simple past and past participle of persecute.
How do you pronounce persecuted?
Persecuted is pronounced /ˈpɝsəˌkjutɪd/ (US).

Words near persecuted in the dictionary

  1. Persea
  2. Persean
  3. Perseans
  4. persecutable
  5. persecute
  6. persecuted
  7. persecutedst
  8. persecutee
  9. persecutees
  10. persecuter
  11. persecuters

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: persecuted (page history and authors); persecute (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: en-us-persecuted.ogg.

Cite this entry: “persecuted.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/persecuted. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.