Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense besets, present participle besettinglanguage note: The form beset is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle.
verb
If someone or something is besetby problems or fears, they have many problems or fears which affect them severely.
The country is beset by severe economic problems. [beV-ed + by/with]
The discussions were beset with difficulties. [beV-ed by/with n]
...the problems now besetting the country. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: plague, trouble, embarrass, torture More Synonyms of beset
More Synonyms of beset
beset in British English
(bɪˈsɛt)
verbWord forms: -sets, -setting or -set(transitive)
1.
(esp of dangers, temptations, or difficulties) to trouble or harass constantly
2.
to surround or attack from all sides
3. archaic
to cover with, esp with jewels
Derived forms
besetter (beˈsetter)
noun
beset in American English
(biˈsɛt; bɪˈsɛt)
verb transitiveWord forms: beˈset or beˈsetting
1.
to cover or set thickly with; stud
2.
to attack from all sides; harass or besiege
3.
to surround or hem in
SIMILAR WORDS: atˈtack
Derived forms
besetment (beˈsetment)
noun
Word origin
ME bisetten < OE besettan: see be- & set
Examples of 'beset' in a sentence
beset
The deal has been beset by problems with bureaucracy.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The arrangement has been beset with problems.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Southern has been beset by problems caused by industrial action and poor service.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But so far it has been beset by problems and it needs to sort them out fast.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The revamp of the armoured fleet has been beset by problems since it was first attempted almost two decades ago.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It has been beset by scandals for many years over the quality of care on offer.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The inquiry has since been beset by problems.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Some problems that beset the international coalition could have been better foreseen.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
But the operation was beset with financial problems from the outset and twice filed for bankruptcy.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
His party is also being beset by fundraising scandals at just the moment when it needs public trust.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It was beset by problems, and many outlets were left with empty shelves.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Casting problems began to beset the House.
Susie Gilbert and Jay Shir A TALE OF FOUR HOUSES: Opera at Covent Garden, La Scala, Vienna and the Met since1945 (2003)
The country is beset by a cholera epidemic that has claimed more than 2,100 lives.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
For 1916 was the year in which many of the problems that beset us today began to emerge.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It was a metaphor that predicted the nature of the many problems that have beset excessively large inner urban secondary schools in the intervening years.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It has been beset by scandal, including allegations that it sent bullying legal letters from fake law firms to clients.
The Sun (2014)
By 1977 the country was beset by serious drought - a clear sign of cooling.
Thompkins, Peter, Bird, Christopher Secrets of the Soil (1990)
Again this is a play about military commanders and the troubles that beset them but it also, famously, approaches the theme of civil unrest.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
In other languages
beset
British English: beset VERB
If someone or something is beset by problems or fears, they have many problems or fears which affect them severely.
The country is beset by severe economic problems.
American English: beset
Brazilian Portuguese: acossar
Chinese: 困扰
European Spanish: acosar
French: assaillir
German: heimsuchen
Italian: assalire
Japanese: つきまとわれる
Korean: 시달리다
European Portuguese: acossar
Latin American Spanish: acosar
1 (verb)
Definition
to trouble or harass constantly
The country is beset by severe economic problems.
Synonyms
plague
I'm not going to plague you with a lot of questions.
trouble
Is anything troubling you?
embarrass
torture
He would not torture her further by arguing.
haunt
The memory of his mistakes still haunts him.
torment
My older brother used to torment me by singing it to me.
harass
a celebrity routinely harassed by the paparazzi
afflict
There are four main problems that afflict these people.
badger
She badgered her doctor time and again, pleading with him.
perplex
problems that perplexed me
pester
He's always hanging round and pestering me.
vex
Everything about that man vexes me.
entangle
bedevil
His career was bedevilled by injury.
2 (verb)
Definition
to surround or attack from all sides
Synonyms
attack
The duo are believed to have attacked several people in South London.
surround
The church was surrounded by a rusted wrought-iron fence.
enclose
The land was enclosed by an eight-foot wire fence.
encompass
Egypt is encompassed by the Mediterranean, Sudan, the Red Sea and Libya.
besiege
The main part of the army moved to besiege the town.
encircle
A forty-foot-high concrete wall encircles the jail.
assail
He was assailed by a young man.
hem in
environ
Additional synonyms
in the sense of afflict
Definition
to cause someone suffering or unhappiness
There are four main problems that afflict these people.
Synonyms
torment,
trouble,
pain,
hurt,
wound,
burden,
distress,
rack,
try,
plague,
grieve,
harass,
ail (literary),
oppress,
beset,
smite
in the sense of assail
Definition
to attack violently
He was assailed by a young man.
Synonyms
attack,
charge,
assault,
invade,
set about,
beset,
fall upon,
set upon,
lay into (informal),
maltreat,
belabour
in the sense of badger
Definition
to pester or harass
She badgered her doctor time and again, pleading with him.