miasma

[mahy-az-muh, mee-]

See more synonyms for miasma 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.

Origin of miasma

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

Related formsmi·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, adjectiveun·mi·as·mic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for miasma

reek, stink, vapor, odor, gas, fumes, smog, pollution, smell, stench, fetor, mephitis

Examples from the Web for miasma

Contemporary Examples of miasma

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
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

Historical Examples of miasma

In the age of monarchy the king lived surrounded by a miasma of intrigue.
Creative Unity
Rabindranath Tagore
And there is no cramp in my heart, no miasma clinging to my senses.
Tatterdemalion
John Galsworthy
Otherwise we run the danger of suffocation from the miasma of vulgarity.
A Family of Noblemen
Mikhal Saltykov
It was as if Black Dan had dissolved into a miasma, and floated off.
Jim
Charles G. D. Roberts
It has, it is true, absorbed thousands of elements of miasma and filthiness!
Travels in Central Asia
Arminius Vmbry

British Dictionary definitions for miasma

miasma

noun plural -mata (-mətə) or -mas

an unwholesome or oppressive atmosphere
pollution in the atmosphere, esp noxious vapours from decomposing organic matter

Derived Formsmiasmal, 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

Word Origin and History for miasma

1660s, from Modern Latin miasma "noxious vapors," from Greek miasma (genitive miasmatos) "stain, pollution, defilement, taint of guilt," from stem of miainein "to pollute," from possible PIE root *mai- "to stain, soil, defile" (cf. Old English mal "stain, mark," see mole (n.1)). Earlier form was miasm (1640s), from French miasme. Related: Miasmatic; miasmal.