plague
Americannoun
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plagues
plural
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an epidemic disease that causes high mortality; pestilence.
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an infectious, epidemic disease caused by a bacterium, Yersinia pestis, characterized by fever, chills, and prostration, transmitted to humans from rats by means of the bites of fleas.
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any widespread affliction, calamity, or evil, especially one regarded as a direct punishment by God.
a plague of war and desolation.
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any cause of trouble, annoyance, or vexation.
Uninvited guests are a plague.
verb (used with object)
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plagues,
present (3rd person singular)
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plagued,
past participle, past
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plaguing
present participle
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to trouble, annoy, or torment in any manner.
The question of his future plagues him with doubt.
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to annoy, bother, or pester.
Ants plagued the picnickers.
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to smite with a plague, pestilence, death, etc.; scourge.
those whom the gods had plagued.
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to infect with a plague; cause an epidemic in or among.
diseases that still plague the natives of Ethiopia.
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to afflict with any evil.
He was plagued by allergies all his life.
noun
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any widespread and usually highly contagious disease with a high fatality rate
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an infectious disease of rodents, esp rats, transmitted to man by the bite of the rat flea ( Xenopsylla cheopis )
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See bubonic plague
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something that afflicts or harasses
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informal an annoyance or nuisance
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a pestilence, affliction, or calamity on a large scale, esp when regarded as sent by God
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archaic used to express annoyance, disgust, etc
a plague on you
verb
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to afflict or harass
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to bring down a plague upon
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informal to annoy
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Any of various highly infectious, usually fatal epidemic diseases.
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An often fatal disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted to humans usually by fleas that have bitten infected rats or other rodents.
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◆ Bubonic plague, the most common type, is characterized by the tender, swollen lymph nodes called buboes, fever, clotting abnormalities of the blood, and tissue necrosis. An epidemic of bubonic plague in fourteenth-century Europe and Asia was known as the Black Death.
Synonym Usage
See bother.
Discover More
The term is also used to refer to widespread outbreaks of many kinds, such as a “plague of locusts.”
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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plaguesimple
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plaguessimple
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have plaguedperfect
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has plaguedperfect
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am plaguingprogressive
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are plaguingprogressive
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is plaguingprogressive
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have been plaguingperfect progressive
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has been plaguingperfect progressive
Past
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plaguedsimple
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had plaguedperfect
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was plaguingprogressive
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were plaguingprogressive
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had been plaguingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plague
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English plage, from Latin plāga “stripe, wound,” Late Latin: “pestilence”
Explanation
When the homeowner described her ant problem as a plague, the exterminator thought she was being a bit melodramatic. After all, a few bugs aren't exactly a huge calamity. Centuries ago, if you had admitted to a friend that you had the plague, that friend would have hightailed it in the other direction. In the Middle Ages, the plague was a horribly contagious illness that spread like wildfire through Europe, killing millions of people. Thanks to the introduction of better hygiene and antibiotics, plague doesn't describe a killer disease as often these days. Instead, it commonly overstates an annoyance, like an apartment dweller claiming his building is plagued by cockroaches.
Vocabulary lists containing plague
A Long Walk to Water
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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:
But trouble started to plague the startup as it grew.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Reports that a woman employed at a plague research institute in Russia's Irkutsk region died from the disease has spiked online interest in possible treatments for the illness in North America.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
It’s caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis that infects fleas and the small mammals that host fleas, and there are actually three types of plague depending on which part of the body becomes infected.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
The antibiotic is among those used to treat plague in countries that see cases each year, helping to contain outbreaks.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
It was a terrible thing, a plague that swept everything before it.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Most notably, “Practical Magic 2” is kneecapped by a fatal flaw that plagues almost all of these legacy sequels, but this one especially: It’s positively unsightly to look at.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
This is not helped by the insecurity that plagues eastern DR Congo.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
It’s at once a practical and existential question that plagues the two lead chefs in FX’s “The Bear.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
But the fall of Spirit is a symptom of a deeper pathology that plagues both the American airline and automobile industries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
The stockman’s zeal for eliminating the coyote has resulted in plagues of field mice, which the coyote formerly controlled.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
The rule was plagued by delays and litigation from the for-profit college industry.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
The Chargers are plagued by costly turnovers and mistakes down the stretch in a 26-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders that sends them to 0-2 on the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
The company balked at launching the app widely during a banner year for sports betting, as bugs, personnel problems and compliance issues plagued the rollout.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
For all the delays and frustrations that have plagued this rivalry over the past decade, Fury against Joshua remains the pinnacle of domestic boxing.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Since leaving New York two and a half weeks ago, Theodore Roosevelt’s steamship, Vandyck, had been plagued by bad weather.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
Public officials like the win-win: It addresses both their housing shortages and the overhang of empty office space plaguing downtowns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
There is no wall up, no layer of artifice between the musician and the actor plaguing modern biopics.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
The weakness is partly being driven by the continued downturn plaguing Asian tech stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
Chen Chaohui, the company’s founder and CEO, described it as “a pet TikTok” to Yahoo Finance, though one hopes pets will be spared the A.I.-generated fruit videos currently plaguing human users.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
“Begin to do something now by not plaguing his life out,” said Meg sharply.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
