mildew
Americannoun
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Plant Pathology. a disease of plants, characterized by a cottony, usually whitish coating on the surface of affected parts, caused by any of various fungi.
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any of these fungi.
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any of similar coatings or discolorations, caused by fungi, as that which appears on fabrics, paper, leather, etc., when exposed to moisture.
verb (used with or without object)
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mildews,
present (3rd person singular)
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mildewed,
past participle, past
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mildewing
present participle
noun
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any of various diseases of plants that affect mainly the leaves and are caused by parasitic fungi See also downy mildew powdery mildew
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any fungus causing this kind of disease
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another name for mould 2
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mildewsimple
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mildewssimple
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have mildewedperfect
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has mildewedperfect
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am mildewingprogressive
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are mildewingprogressive
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is mildewingprogressive
-
have been mildewingperfect progressive
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has been mildewingperfect progressive
Past
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mildewedsimple
-
had mildewedperfect
-
was mildewingprogressive
-
were mildewingprogressive
-
had been mildewingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mildew
before 1000; Middle English: honeydew, mildew; Old English mildēaw, equivalent to mil- honey (cognate with Gothic milith, akin to Latin mel, Greek méli ) + dēaw dew
Explanation
Mildew is a kind of fungus that grows in damp environments. If you find a white, musty-smelling powder on a book that's been stored in the basement, it's probably mildew. Yuck! Mildew and mold are closely related — mildew is a less harmful kind of fungus, though both can cause breathing problems. While mildew is almost always white, mold is darker and fuzzier. Since dampness causes mildew to spread, keeping things dry (possibly with the help of a dehumidifier or air conditioner) can help prevent it. The stickiness of plant mildew helps explain the word's etymology. It comes from a root meaning "honeydew."
Vocabulary lists containing mildew
James and the Giant Peach
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How to Steal a Dog
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I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He said mildew is a common regional issue his team fixes as necessary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
When tested on wheat, these compounds helped protect against fungal infections such as powdery mildew.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2025
Before Pregerson issued his ruling, one man testified that he’d been forced to sleep under another man’s bunk in a five-person cell, where he’d eventually developed a staph infection from the mold and mildew.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
US defender Chastain vividly remembers the conditions - "the water dripping from the ceiling, the mildew - you can smell it".
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2024
After ten months on Maxwell Street and over twelve months in an attic before that, I expected mornings to smell like dust and mildew.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
All regions suffered from factors ranging from droughts and floods to water shortages and unexpected mildews.
From Salon ● May 1, 2024
Some fungi take the form of molds and mildews, which are commonly seen on rotting food.
From Textbooks ● Sep. 6, 2018
In particular, he and his team are working on alternative treatments for common vine mildews; the conventional one, copper sulphate, accumulates in soil in doses that are toxic to wildlife.
From Nature ● Dec. 19, 2012
"It's bulky if you move it, traceable if you bank it, and it mildews if you bury it."
From Time Magazine Archive
The Philippine Islands appear to be so far singularly exempt from the very many cryptogamic or fungous diseases, blights, mildews, rusts, and cankers that have played havoc with cacao-growing in many countries.
From Cacao Culture in the Philippines by William S. (Scrugham) Lyon
When Bill first saw her small, shabby, mildewed lab space, she was momentarily ashamed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
For me to even open an envelope meant a trip to my stepmother’s house, where the precious cache was moldering in a mildewed basement.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2025
This is how Lili Anolik found herself digging through the mildewed trash pile of Eve Babitz’s personal effects after her death in late 2021.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2024
Items can be in any condition except wet, mildewed or contaminated with hazardous materials.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2023
There were mildewed boxes of old parish records in one corner, and an open door that revealed a Victorian flush toilet and a basin, with only a cold tap, in the other.
From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman
There are mountains of refuse at dozens of temporary sites statewide, filled with fallen trees, mildewing carpet, sodden drywall and other household items destroyed by the storm.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 25, 2022
If your bathroom is cramped, super-plush towels will be a challenge to store and might not dry quickly enough to avoid mildewing.
From Slate ● Jan. 4, 2019
Eventually, the family sold the mildewing house, with its grand veranda and inner courtyard, and moved into a three-room flat.
From The New Yorker ● May 2, 2016
Now, I was wearing rapidly mildewing clothes and getting crushed by a Slovak and a Brit in a multinational game of Monopoly.
From New York Times ● May 1, 2012
He could smell Tuf-Skin and ankle tape, week-old perspiration, moist towels mildewing in forgotten lockers, foot powder, ammonia, and unwashed socks.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
