infested

[in-fes-tid]

adjective

1. overrun to an unwanted degree or in a troublesome manner by predatory animals or vermin (often used in combination).

   It is so difficult to eradicate cockroaches from an infested area.

   The only unguarded way of escape was through an alligator-infested swamp.

2. filled or riddled with anything undesirable or troublesome (usually used in combination).

   The restaurant sat in an increasingly tourist-infested part of town.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of infest.

Other Word Forms

• uninfested adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of infested¹

First recorded in 1890–1900; infest ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; infest ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Many buses in London are infested with cockroaches according to drivers, who want the issue resolved immediately.

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At night, crews trained a searchlight across dark waters infested with so-called growlers—low-floating chunks of ice the size of trucks that can puncture ships.

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California health officials warn that the New World Screwworm could arrive in California from an infested traveler or animal, or from the natural travel of the parasitic flies.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Even if we put down rodenticide, they won't eat it. They are just not interested… Once these bins are infested with rats, the bin men don't want to collect it either."

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In early August, a person traveling from El Salvador to Maryland was discovered to have been infested, federal officials said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ravaged