miasma
[mahy-az-muh, mee-]
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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for miasma
reek, stink, vapor, odor, gas, fumes, smog, pollution, smell, stench, fetor, mephitisExamples from the Web for miasma
Contemporary Examples of miasma
The air of CGI is thick with the miasma of biz-school neologisms.
And I wonder if what we are looking at with the “fly by” of Minneapolis might not be a form of miasma—called boredom.
Historical Examples of miasma
In the age of monarchy the king lived surrounded by a miasma of intrigue.
Creative UnityRabindranath Tagore
And there is no cramp in my heart, no miasma clinging to my senses.
TatterdemalionJohn Galsworthy
Otherwise we run the danger of suffocation from the miasma of vulgarity.
A Family of NoblemenMikhal Saltykov
It was as if Black Dan had dissolved into a miasma, and floated off.
JimCharles G. D. Roberts
It has, it is true, absorbed thousands of elements of miasma and filthiness!
Travels in Central AsiaArminius Vmbry
miasma
noun plural -mata (-mətə) or -mas
Word Origin for miasma
C17: New Latin, from Greek: defilement, from miainein to defile
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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