pestilence

American  

[pes-tl-uhns] / ˈpɛs tl əns /

noun

1. a deadly or virulent epidemic disease.

2. bubonic plague.

3. something that is considered harmful, destructive, or evil.

---

pestilence British  

/ ˈpɛstɪləns /

noun

1. 1. any epidemic outbreak of a deadly and highly infectious disease, such as the plague

   2. such a disease

2. an evil influence or idea

---

Other Word Forms

• antipestilence
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pestilence

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin pestilentia, from pestilent-, stem of pestilēns “unhealthy, noxious” ( see pestilent) + -ia -y ³ ( def. )

Explanation

Pestilence means a deadly and overwhelming disease that affects an entire community. The Black Plague, a disease that killed over thirty percent of Europe's population, was certainly a pestilence. Pestilence is also one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation (which is part of The Bible). When pestilence rides into town, you want to be somewhere far, far away. Whereas a person gets the flu, a nation experiences a pestilence. A disease that causes widespread crop damage or animal deaths can also be called a pestilence.

Example Sentences

Without them, we’d live in a world of putridity and pestilence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

Invasive species came in all guises: foreign pestilence, foreign capital, and the developers.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

Every time she opens her mouth I swear a swarm of horseflies and pestilence are released to consume the countryside.

From Salon • Nov. 28, 2025

We instinctively comfort ourselves: I will never set foot in a submersible, my life will never be uprooted by war or pestilence.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2023

Ricketts’ was located in a quiet residential area many blocks away from the docks where the pestilence had first struck.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy