conflicted

1 of 2

adjective

con·​flict·​ed kən-ˈflik-təd How to pronounce conflicted (audio)
Synonyms of conflicted
: experiencing or marked by ambivalence or a conflict especially of emotions
conflicted feelings
… these people are … conflicted in their values and beliefs.—Norman Ornstein

conflicted

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of conflict entry 2

Synonyms of conflicted

Relevance

Adjective

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of conflicted in a Sentence

Adjective She was still conflicted about her ex-husband's remarriage. I'm conflicted about the prospect of our only child going away to college.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adjective
Sophie confessed to being a bit conflicted about tobacco, a plant that has killed untold humans, but is also showing promise in vaccine production and other pharmaceutical research. — ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026 The 2026 Canadian Travel and Tourism Outlook study from Environics Research shows that six in 10 Canadians are either actively avoiding travel to the US (46%) or would travel to the US, but feel conflicted (15%). — CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026 Liz — as Nathan semi-affectionately calls her — is an individual who seemingly has a conflicted relationship with what’s real and what’s possible, which is what landed her in prison for fraud. — Jade Tran, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2026 For his doc, Kondabolu, a comedy writer and standup comedian, spoke to a number of prominent South Asian entertainers, including Aziz Ansari, Aasif Mandvi and Hasan Minhaj about their conflicted feelings about Apu. — Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for conflicted

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

from past participle of conflict entry 2

First Known Use

Adjective

1789, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of conflicted was in 1789

Rhymes for conflicted

See All Rhymes for conflicted

Browse Nearby Words

conflict diamond
conflicted
conflicting
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Conflicted.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflicted. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Medical Definition

conflicted

adjective
con·​flict·​ed kən-ˈflik-təd How to pronounce conflicted (audio)
: having or experiencing emotional conflict
working women were much more conflicted about working than full-time mothers were about staying home—People
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All