miasma

American  

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

noun

• miasmas,
  plural
• miasmata
  plural

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

2. a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere.

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miasma British  

/ mɪˈæzmə, ˌmiːəzˈmætɪk /

noun

1. an unwholesome or oppressive atmosphere

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• miasmal
  adjective
• miasmatic
  adjective
• miasmatical
  adjective
• miasmic
  adjective
• unmiasmal
  adjective
• unmiasmatic
  adjective
• unmiasmatical
  adjective
• unmiasmic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• miasmas
  plural
• miasmata
  plural

Etymology

Origin of miasma

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

Explanation

A miasma is a cloud of foul-smelling vapor, like swamp gas. You could have a miasma of sweat that lingers in a locker room long after a soccer team has left, or a miasma of rumor swirling around a politician. As you've probably figured out, miasma is always negative. You could describe the miasma of a hot summer day, but you'd be thinking of the stench of uncollected garbage and exhaust fumes, not the smell of summer flowers. From the Middle Ages until the late 19th century, when germs were identified as causing disease, people believed that you could get sick from the miasma of everyday life — from the odors arising from poor sanitation and cramped quarters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

miasma miasmas miasmata

It wasn’t just, or even chiefly, the miasma of sleaze and corruption that seemed to surround her wherever she went.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

Few writers since Henry James can create an atmosphere of doubt around events and character as effectively as this author does, and in “Venetian Vespers” the miasma thickens at every turn.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

Maddow then segued into a more comprehensive discussion about the rule of law, which she argued was not an abstract "miasma" but rather, is "specific stuff."

From Salon ● May 7, 2024

Another took footage inside, a miasma of smoke quickly obscuring the camera lens as passengers shouted and cabin crew tried to direct their next moves.

From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2024

He preached eloquently about the importance of creating a true community out of the miasma of Hayti.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Some scientists believed that diseases were the result of miasmas, or bad smells such as those produced by dead bodies, biological waste and other disease-carrying substances.

From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2022

Miasma theory, the idea that disease was spread by miasmas of bad air, is discredited.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 15, 2021

Scientists believed that miasmas, or bad smells, caused disease, and Semmelweis noted that these miasmas were supposedly produced by dead bodies.

From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2021

Modern warfare creates miasmas of emotion, information, misinformation, deception and secrecy.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 8, 2018

The miasmas of this horde set in motion tainted the air, and stifled respiration.

From History of the Girondists, Volume I Personal Memoirs of the Patriots of the French Revolution by H. T. Ryde

Localities of every sort, high and low, dry and moist, those saturated with marsh miasmata and those fanned by pure mountain-breezes, have been alike visited by this disease.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

It is very extraordinary to see barren savannahs loaded with miasmata.

From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 2 by Alexander von Humboldt

All contagious miasmata originate either from animal bodies, as those of the small pox, or from putrid morasses; these latter produce agues in the colder climates, and malignant fevers in the warmer ones.

From The Botanic Garden A Poem in Two Parts. Part 1: the Economy of Vegetation by Erasmus Darwin

At this point, the atmosphere is loaded with pestilential miasmata.

From Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa by Mungo Park

A film of foreign substance on the skin will inevitably become the seat of detention of miasmata and infectious vapors.

From A Treatise on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene (Revised Edition) by Calvin Cutter