blight
Americannoun
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Plant Pathology.
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the rapid and extensive discoloration, wilting, and death of plant tissues.
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a disease so characterized.
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any cause of impairment, destruction, ruin, or frustration.
Extravagance was the blight of the family.
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the state or result of being blighted or deteriorated; dilapidation; decay.
urban blight.
verb (used with object)
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blights,
present (3rd person singular)
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blighted,
past participle, past
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blighting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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blights,
present (3rd person singular)
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blighted,
past participle, past
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blighting
present participle
noun
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any plant disease characterized by withering and shrivelling without rotting See also potato blight
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any factor, such as bacterial attack or air pollution, that causes the symptoms of blight in plants
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a person or thing that mars or prevents growth, improvement, or prosperity
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an ugly urban district
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the state or condition of being blighted or spoilt
verb
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to cause or suffer a blight
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(tr) to frustrate or disappoint
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(tr) to spoil; destroy
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Any of numerous plant diseases that cause leaves, stems, fruits, and tissues to wither and die. Rust, mildew, and smut are blights.
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The bacterium, fungus, or virus that causes such a disease.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blightsimple
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blightssimple
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have blightedperfect
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has blightedperfect
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am blightingprogressive
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are blightingprogressive
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is blightingprogressive
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have been blightingperfect progressive
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has been blightingperfect progressive
Past
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blightedsimple
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had blightedperfect
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was blightingprogressive
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were blightingprogressive
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had been blightingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blight
First recorded in 1605–15; of uncertain origin
Explanation
A blight is a disease that hurts plants and makes their leaves wither. It can also affect neighborhoods. Urban blight refers to a part of the city where things are falling apart. Blight rhymes with bright, but it’s the opposite of sunshine; instead of making plants grow, it cripples them. The Irish Potato Famine was an example of a blight. In 1845, more than a third of the potato crops were ruined. The plants turned black and their leaves dried up and people who relied on potatoes for most of their meals also withered and experienced extreme hardship and hunger. You might want to think of it this way: a blight makes people — or plants — fight for their lives.
Vocabulary lists containing blight
St. Patrick's Day Vocabulary: Words With Irish and Gaelic Roots
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Oedipus the King
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Yes, there are a small minority of people in the Grangetown area who blight those communities. But we will continue relentlessly to serve our communities."
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
In recent years, residents have struggled with blight and property crime, according to Matson, who sits on Newberry Springs’ local government.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Europeans have long shunned air conditioning, viewing it as noisy, a blight on their architectural heritage and, above all, unnecessary as long as the summers were mild.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Fly-tipping incidents continue to blight areas right across Wales, with figures released earlier this year the highest since 2009.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
The rains came or they were withheld, the heat ripened the grain or blasted it with a scorching flame, the ears of com matured in golden beauty or they were infested by worms or blight.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
I wish we could point to a new robust corner of Minnehaha and Lake Street where the condemned Third Precinct still blights the corner, but we can’t.
From Salon ● Jun. 1, 2025
To many, it’s ugly vandalism that blights the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2024
For the first time, digital data was available that allowed preventive action: spotting tree blights in early stages or providing comprehensive information on watersheds for crop planning and flood protection.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2023
She added: "We do need to tackle at source these kind of behaviours that are blights on our community."
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2023
Mars has no insects, parasites, or blights to deal with, and the Hab maintains perfect growing temperature and moisture at all times.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
They were protesting a fuel price hike and a free school meals programme that was blighted by mass food poisonings and corruption claims.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Back pain is one of the UK's most common conditions that has blighted millions over generations.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
When Melton became mayor in 2024, he said he sought advice from Detroit’s then-mayor, Mike Duggan, who had helped revitalize his city by eliminating blighted buildings and curbing the population exodus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
They blighted his two-year tenure, after he led his party to victory in 2024 elections following 14 years in opposition.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
The proudest city in all the world was gone in an instant, its fabled empire vanished in a day, the Lands of the Long Summer scorched and drowned and blighted.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Slavery shaped the Americas for four centuries, blighting the entire hemisphere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2026
The 76-year-old retired state employee, former gun store owner and avid elk hunter from La Grande, Oregon, is on a mission to keep turbines and transmission towers from blighting the rural landscape.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
The "Need to Sell" programme would remain open to support residents "until the blighting effect of HS2 has fully receded", he added.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2024
Next time you feel like littering, think of the bird you may harm and the beauty you are blighting.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2023
This I had believed with all my being, but now, though still inwardly affirming that belief, I felt a blighting hurt which prevented me from trying further to defend myself.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
