morbific

American  

[mawr-bif-ik] / mɔrˈbɪf ɪk /

Also morbifical

adjective

1. causing disease.

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morbific British  

/ mɔːˈbɪfɪk /

adjective

1. causing disease; pathogenic

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Other Word Forms

• morbifically adverb

Etymology

Origin of morbific

1645–55; < New Latin morbificus, equivalent to morb ( us ) sickness + -i- -i- + -ficus -fic

Example Sentences

In Kingston, Jamaica, for instance, British colonial officers tried to banish the disease by firing cannons through the streets “to destroy the morbific power that lurked in the dark alleys”.

From The Guardian

It may require ages for this progress, but when it is attained, and the race is set free from all morbific influences, physical death would be impossible.

From Project Gutenberg

He looked upon the morbific process as the same whichever were the mucous membranes attacked, and made a distinction only according to the localization of the disease.

From Project Gutenberg

Truffaldino, he continued, was an antidote to the morbific influences of Martellian verses; he had come to protect the King, the Prince, and all the people from the infection of those melancholic charms.

From Project Gutenberg

Horse and cattle doctors have recommended bleeding when animals have been fed too liberally, or if their systems abound in morbific matter.

From Project Gutenberg