besetting

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be·set·ting

(bĭ-sĕt′ĭng)

adj.

Constantly troubling or attacking.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

besetting

(bɪˈsɛtɪŋ)

adj

tempting, harassing, or assailing (esp in the phrase besetting sin)

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

be•set•ting

(bɪˈsɛt ɪŋ)

adj.

constantly assailing or obsessing: a besetting temptation.

[1540–50]

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besetting

adjective chronic, persistent, long-standing, prevalent, habitual, ingrained, deep-seated, incurable, deep-rooted, inveterate, incorrigible, ineradicable my besetting sins

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

hartnäckig

besetting

[bɪˈsetɪŋ] ADJ [vice, failing] → grande
his besetting sin → su gran pecado

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

besetting

[bɪˈsɛtɪŋ] adj
his besetting sin → son vice, son grand défaut

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

besetting

adj his besetting sin → eine ständige Untugend von ihm; his one besetting worry → die Sorge, die ihn nicht loslässt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

besetting

[bɪˈsɛtɪŋ] adj his besetting sin → il suo più grande difetto

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References in classic literature ?

These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war.

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If he had belonged to the present generation he would, under the circumstances, have fallen into one of the besetting sins of England in these days--the tendency (to borrow an illustration from the stage) to "strike an attitude" in the presence of a social emergency.

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But then, Diana, even ministers are human and have their besetting sins just like everybody else.