beleaguer

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 7, 2025 is: beleaguer \bih-LEE-gur\ verb To beleaguer a person, business, etc. is to cause them constant or repeated trouble. Beleaguer is also sometimes used as a synonym of [besiege](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/besiege). // The coach, beleaguered by the media and fans for his poor decision-making during games, has been fired. // The novel is set in a city beleaguered by military forces. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beleaguer) Examples: "... Mono Lake, beleaguered by three years of drought, is expected to rise by several feet, a welcome reprieve as the lake has struggled to reach target levels." — Evan Bush, NBC News, 6 June 2023 Did you know? There's no getting around it: beleaguer is a "troubling" word. It comes from the Dutch verb belegeren, which in turn combines leger, meaning "camp," and the prefix be- (a relative of the English [be-](https://bit.ly/4fIlYCK) meaning "about" or "around"). While the Dutch word, meaning "to camp around," is neutral, its descendent beleaguer implies a whole heap of fuss and bother. Beleaguer was first used in the late 16th century, and is still used today, as a synonym of [besiege](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/besiege); indeed, an army beleaguering or besieging a castle may also be said to be "camping around" it, albeit with [nefarious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nefarious) rather than recreational purposes. This sense of beleaguer was almost immediately joined, however, by its now more common—and less [martial](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/martial)—meaning of "to cause constant or repeated trouble for."