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:
“Defendant’s conduct is a blight on law enforcement, and its harm extends beyond his own misconduct,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
It was triggered by potato blight which spread across Europe.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The campaign takes a page from other Rust Belt cities, including Detroit and South Bend, that have undertaken big blight elimination crusades, with varying degrees of success.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
They added: "Homicides are at their lowest level in almost 50 years, theft and other offences that blight local areas are also falling, while charges are going up significantly."
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
People had begun leaving in 1913, when the phylloxera blight ruined the currants.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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
The motion passed on Monday acknowledged that the "perceived demands of Ofsted are the major contributor to the excessive workload and bureaucracy that blights the lives of teachers".
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2023
Lashari, the city official, laments the “decay and disorder” that blights Gawalmandi and other traditional neighborhoods like it.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 12, 2022
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
He introduced me to them as investors interested in the redevelopment of a blighted downtown property.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
I know that firsthand, having grown up without economic privilege and having worked in neighborhoods blighted by socioeconomic hardship.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026
Niger has been ruled for three years by a military junta that has struggled to contain jihadist violence, which has blighted the west African country for around a decade.
From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026
Sites in Kent, Surrey and West Yorkshire will be assessed for clearance, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham saying the "toxic dumps have blighted communities for too long".
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Neville’s childhood had been blighted by Voldemort just as much as Harry’s had, but Neville had no idea how close he had come to having Harry’s destiny.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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
It said this was causing "distress to local communities and blighting rivers and beaches."
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2025
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.
