conflicted

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kənˈflɪtɪd/
Audio (US): (file)
Hyphenation: con‧flict‧ed

Verb

conflicted

simple past and past participle of conflict
- 2014 March 2, Jan Morris, “Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson, review: A skilful account of T. E. Lawrence and his role in the painful birth of an emerging Middle East [print version: A rock in Arabia's shifting sands, 1 March 2014, p. R26]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)‎^[1]:
  [T. E.] Lawrence said that in the end he felt himself to be fighting not for the imperial British but for the rebellious Arabs. All too often he conflicted with British bureaucratic fustiness.

Adjective

conflicted (comparative more conflicted, superlative most conflicted)

(Canada, US, informal) In a state of personal or emotional conflict.
I felt conflicted about whether he liked me or not.
- 2016 December 20, Katie Rife, “Passengers strains the considerable charms of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[2], archived from the original on 23 April 2018:
  He sees a pretty woman in a pod and decides to make her his, subsuming her lifetime of hopes and dreams (not to mention her bodily autonomy) to his own desire for companionship, and lies to her in order to fulfill that desire. But he’s a nice guy, and he felt conflicted about it before he did it, so it’s… understandable? Or at least forgivable? Apparently?)
(proscribed) Having a conflict of interest.

Usage notes

The commonly proscribed sense "having a conflict of interest" is almost unattested until about 2015 and does not appear in most dictionaries as of 2024. In the US it is strongly associated with Trumpism and almost never used outside of political discourse by Donald Trump and his proponents.

Derived terms

Anagrams

deconflict