miasma

[ mahy-az-muh, mee- ]

/ maɪˈæz mə, mi- /

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See synonyms for: miasma / miasmatic / miasmic on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural mi·as·mas, mi·as·ma·ta

[mahy-az-muh-tuh, mee-]. /maɪˈæz mə tə, mi-/.

noxious exhalations from putrescent organic matter; poisonous effluvia or germs polluting the atmosphere.

a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere.

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Origin of miasma

1655–65; <New Latin <Greek míasma stain, pollution, akin to miaínein to pollute, stain

OTHER WORDS FROM miasma

mi·as·mal, mi·as·mat·ic

[mahy-az-mat-ik], /ˌmaɪ æzˈmæt ɪk/, mi·as·mat·i·cal, mi·as·mic, adjectiveun·mi·as·mal, adjectiveun·mi·as·mat·ic, adjectiveun·mi·as·mat·i·cal, adjective

un·mi·as·mic, adjective

Words nearby miasma

Miantonomo, Miao, miaou, Miao-Yao, Miaskovsky, miasma, Miass, miaul, miazine, mib, mic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use miasma in a sentence

It’s also possible the miasmas of their lives and interests will swirl off in other directions for any number of other reasons independent of how they feel about each other.
Carolyn Hax: How to help a teenage daughter with a chaotic friend?|Carolyn Hax|August 27, 2021|Washington Post
A pandemic raced over the land, there were wildfires, uneasy political divisions, and we gasped in the miasma of social media.
The biggest technology failures of 2020|David Rotman|December 31, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Since then, a black miasma of recursive vengeance has descended upon Iraq.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq|Nathan Bradley Bethea|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The air of CGI is thick with the miasma of biz-school neologisms.
Is It Over? A 2012 Clinton Global Initiative Postmortem|Matthew DeLuca|September 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST

And I wonder if what we are looking at with the “fly by” of Minneapolis might not be a form of miasma—called boredom.
The New Cockpit Threat|Clive Irving|October 22, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Tories will wax eloquent on "the pink miasma of revolutionary Radicalism."
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 107, November 3, 1894|Various
The pollution (miasma) of sin is precipitated by his blood, the power of sin is conquered by his Spirit.
Aids to Reflection|Samuel Taylor Coleridge
But we rather overdid the miasma, so it was abolished by mutual consent.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XXII (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson
Many of the women were adding their cigarette-smoke to the haze settling over all like a gray miasma.
What Will People Say?|Rupert Hughes
Miasma has polluted the atmosphere so long that people do not know the feeling of untainted air.
A New Atmosphere|Gail Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for miasma

miasma

/ (mɪˈæzmə) /

noun plural -mata (-mətə) or -mas

an unwholesome or oppressive atmosphere

pollution in the atmosphere, esp noxious vapours from decomposing organic matter

Derived forms of miasma

miasmal, miasmatic (ˌmiːəzˈmætɪk), miasmatical or miasmic, adjective

Word Origin for miasma

C17: New Latin, from Greek: defilement, from miainein to defile

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

miasma

Origin of miasma

OTHER WORDS FROM miasma

Words nearby miasma

Words related to miasma

How to use miasma in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for miasma

Derived forms of miasma

Word Origin for miasma