miasma

[mahy-az-muh, mee-]

noun

plural

miasmas, miasmata 

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

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

miasma

/ mɪˈæzmə, ˌmiːəzˈmætɪk /

noun

1. an unwholesome or oppressive atmosphere

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of miasma¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of miasma¹

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

Example Sentences

Above all, we experience a pervasive miasma of helplessness as we are forced to watch this intolerable train wreck.

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In such a milieu, Hine’s troubling 1908 photographs would easily disappear, perhaps seizing a moment but soon evaporating into the visual miasma that floods the zone daily.

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It was a couple of weeks after the great smog had brought London to a standstill, and although that particularly foul miasma had dispersed, smog still regularly reduced visibility.

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None of these is a new argument — they’ve been swirling around the conservative and Republican fever swamp like a miasma for decades.

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The Select Subcommittee has done its best to contribute to this poisonous miasma.

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