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:
Boulder wants compensation for wildfires, the costs for mitigating pest infestations, reduced farm output and lower employee productivity, among other things.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The team hopes those microbial signatures could eventually form the basis of a simple diagnostic tool that helps pest professionals determine whether termite evidence is recent enough to justify treatment.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Spoiled vegetables rot in corners, while food counters show signs of pest infestation.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
The coach must have wanted someone to be a pest going after quarterbacks with his lack of size.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
She doesn’t let him in while she’s cooking because he makes such a pest of himself, rubbing against her ankles and getting between her feet.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
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
According to the British Pest Control Association, external, during the warmer months of the year bedbugs, thrive due to being more active, feeding and mating.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Messages left this week with Pest Control by The Wall Street Journal weren’t returned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 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
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
In the past, some in the community considered wild boar and deer pests for damaging their gardens and crops, she said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
The building was storing millions of pounds of fresh and frozen food such as meat, bread and seafood that rotted after the blaze, prompting complaints, citations and lawsuits over foul odors and pests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Although the number of patients coming to the clinics has decreased over time, Mangia said, there is still concern about other issues tied to the warehouse site, such as the pests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
This part of Australia is the front line of that crisis: a last stand for many species driven to the brink by feral pests, disease, urban development, habitat destruction and climate change.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Scientists in Czechoslovakia are experimenting with protozoa against webworms and other insect pests, and in the United States a protozoan parasite has been found to reduce the egg- laying potential of the corn borer.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
