pest
noun
an annoying or troublesome person, animal, or thing; nuisance.
pest
1 American
[pest]
/ pɛst /
Pest
2
American
[pest, pesht]
/ pɛst, pɛʃt /
noun
pest
British
/ pɛst /
noun
-
a person or thing that annoys, esp by imposing itself when it is not wanted; nuisance
-
-
any organism that damages crops, injures or irritates livestock or man, or reduces the fertility of land
-
( as modifier )
pest control
-
-
rare an epidemic disease or pestilence
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pest
First recorded in 1545–55, pest is from the Latin word pestis plague
Explanation
A pest is something or someone that bugs you. That annoying mosquito that keeps you up at night is a pest, and so is that younger brother who wants to control the TV remote. An unwanted, bothersome person is a pest — and so is an unwanted, bothersome bug. In fact, the "destructive or harmful insect" definition came before "annoying person," following the "plague or pestilence" meaning of pest. The Latin root is pestis, "deadly contagious disease." During the Late Middle Ages, when the bubonic plague killed a third of all humans, it was commonly known as "the pest."
Vocabulary lists containing pest
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:
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has cited Lineage for unsanitary and nuisance conditions related to rodent and pest control violations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The report from a pest control company said it could put people and animals with open wounds at risk of contracting disease.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
It could also provide enough electricity for off-grid devices requiring little power, such as sensors to detect pest damage to farmland, overflowing rivers, landslides or even burglar alarms.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
The disaster left Boyle Heights wrapped in a cloud of severe odor, pest infestations and potentially toxic air, leaving the community outraged over ongoing cleanup delays.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
"My sister may be a pest," she said, "but she's not a thief!"
From "Sleepover Sleuths: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #1" by Carolyn Keene
But there may be another reason, too, said Jim Farrar, director of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: State laws and local ordinances that have banned certain rodenticides could be inadvertently fueling typhoid outbreaks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Pest controllers have reported a rise in callouts to cockroach infestations in Cardiff, with one company regularly getting five or six reports a week.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
More than one-third of pest-control businesses said their growth last year was constrained by having too few technicians, according to the National Pest Management Association.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 28, 2026
Clark Pest Control of Stockton, Crane Pest Control, and Orkin Services quickly settled with Ventura, Orange and Riverside counties and nine other California counties over allegations made against the trio in Contra Costa Superior Court.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
Meanwhile, the Department’s Plant Pest Control men had temporarily forgotten gypsy moths, for they had been busy launching an even more ambitious program in the South.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Though the beetles snack on fruits we might also desire, they’re generally not considered pests, said Karey Windbiel-Rojas, an associate director with the University of California’s statewide integrated pest management program.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
The winter rapeseed crop was "hit hardest, with a 20 percent drop in yield", Rukwied noted, adding that pests took a toll in addition to the drought and heat.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Leaving a trail of destruction in their wake are introduced pests: fire ants, cane toads, rabbits, foxes, feral cats.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
European imports, which rose in recent years when suppliers there raced to salvage logs from forests damaged by wind, fire and pests, have also declined.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
It gave off a smelly smoke that protected our cows from biting flies and other pests.
From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau
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.
