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Preposition after adjective

Stricken with or stricken by?

Stricken with usually refers to illness, grief, or a condition. Stricken by commonly refers to disasters, events, or external causes.

Quick answer

Main difference

Use stricken with for diseases, emotions, or conditions. Use stricken by for events, disasters, or outside forces affecting someone or something.

She was stricken with grief after the funeral.
The region was stricken by floods last year.
He became stricken with anxiety before the exam.

Choose the pattern by meaning

These forms are not interchangeable. Choose the construction by meaning, not by which preposition appears most often.

1
stricken with + illness

Describing disease or physical condition

With is common for illnesses and medical conditions.

He was stricken with malaria.
The child was stricken with fever.
2
stricken with + emotion

Describing strong emotional states

With is also used for grief, fear, shock, and similar emotions.

They were stricken with sorrow.
She stood stricken with panic.
3
stricken by + event

Describing damage from an external event

By introduces the cause affecting a place, group, or person.

The town was stricken by drought.
Several villages were stricken by war.

See the difference in context

The same subject can take different constructions because each sentence answers a different question.

Construction
Example
Meaning
stricken with
She was stricken with illness.
Affected by a condition or emotion.
stricken by
The coast was stricken by a hurricane.
Affected by an outside event or force.
struck by
He was struck by the news.
A more general expression for sudden impact or reaction.

Common mistakes

Some combinations appear in real text but do not mean what learners often assume.

Using by for emotions

With is more natural for emotional or medical conditions.

✕ She was stricken by sadness. ✓ She was stricken with sadness.

Using with for disasters

By is standard for events and external causes.

✕ The city was stricken with an earthquake. ✓ The city was stricken by an earthquake.

Quick practice

Choose the expression that matches the intended meaning.

1. The country was stricken ___ famine.
2. He seemed stricken ___ guilt.
3. The village was stricken ___ severe storms.

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Frequently asked questions

Can stricken with describe emotions?

Yes. English commonly uses stricken with grief, fear, shock, or panic.

Is stricken by only for disasters?

Mostly for external causes such as war, disease outbreaks, or natural events.

Is stricken formal?

Yes. It is more formal and literary than affected by or suffering from.

sacred-to-in-by-of, for "sad for" or "sad about"? "safe for", "safe from" or "safe in"? sanguine about, in, of, on or for? "satisfactory to" or "satisfactory for"? satisfied with, of, by, in or on? "satisfying for" or "satisfying to"? scarce in, for, at, on or of? scared of, to, about, for or by? "scary for" or "scary to"? "scathing about", "scathing in" or "scathing of"? "sceptical about" or "sceptical of"?

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