bedevil

English

From be- +‎ devil.

bedevil (third-person singular simple present bedevils, present participle bedeviling or bedevilling, simple past and past participle bedeviled or bedevilled)

To harass or cause trouble for; to plague.
Synonyms: disturb, molest, pester; see also Thesaurus:annoy, Thesaurus:pester

Guerrilla attacks continued to bedevil the larger army's supply routes.
- 1988 December 19, William Styron, “Why Primo Levi Need Not Have Died”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:
  Mr. Levi may have been bedeviled by buried conflicts unrelated to Auschwitz.
- 2013, Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto V, scene: The Third Way:
  Michael De Santa (Ned Luke): You know, Devin [Devin Winston], the way I see it, and hey, 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.
To perplex or bewilder.
Synonyms: befuddle, bemuse; see also Thesaurus:confuse
(originally) To possess (someone's mind).
Synonym: bodyjack

The spellings bedeviling and bedeviled are preferred in the US, while bedevilling and bedevilled are preferred in the UK. However, the choice of spellings is not universal.

to harass