bedevil

present singular third person bedevils · US participle present bedeviling · UK participle present bedevilling · US participle past bedeviled · US past bedeviled · UK participle past bedevilled · UK past bedevilled

1. To harass or cause trouble for; to plague.

   Guerrilla attacks continued to bedevil the larger army's supply routes.

   3 more examples

   Mr. Levi may have been bedeviled by buried conflicts unrelated to Auschwitz.

   1988 December 19, William Styron, “Why Primo Levi Need Not Have Died”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 29 Aug 2022

   Such amity is no small thing. The narrowing world of Yiddish theater has been bedeviled with one “broyges — a cherished term for a falling out — after another

   2010 March 19, Joseph Berger, “How to Say Theater in Yiddish? Two Ways”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 11 Jun 2019

   Michael De Santa (Ned Luke): […] I'm no intelligent businessman like you, but the way I see it, there's two great evils that bedevil American capitalism of the type that you practice.

   2013, Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto V, scene: The Third Way

   Synonyms: disturb, molest, pester, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle

2. To perplex or bewilder.

   Synonyms: befuddle, bemuse, addle, baffle, vex, lose, embroil, stick

3. originallyTo possess (someone's mind).

   Synonyms: bodyjack