pestilence
Americannoun
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a deadly or virulent epidemic disease.
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something that is considered harmful, destructive, or evil.
noun
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any epidemic outbreak of a deadly and highly infectious disease, such as the plague
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such a disease
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an evil influence or idea
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pestilence
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin pestilentia, from pestilent-, stem of pestilēns “unhealthy, noxious” ( see pestilent) + -ia -y 3 ( def. )
Explanation
Pestilence means a deadly and overwhelming disease that affects an entire community. The Black Plague, a disease that killed over thirty percent of Europe's population, was certainly a pestilence. Pestilence is also one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation (which is part of The Bible). When pestilence rides into town, you want to be somewhere far, far away. Whereas a person gets the flu, a nation experiences a pestilence. A disease that causes widespread crop damage or animal deaths can also be called a pestilence.
Vocabulary lists containing pestilence
"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Twelfth Night
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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.
When will we be rid of this pestilence?
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Without them, we’d live in a world of putridity and pestilence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
Every time she opens her mouth I swear a swarm of horseflies and pestilence are released to consume the countryside.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2025
There’s anguish in his eyes, and when Del Toro shows us the world through his perspective, humanity itself appears anti-life, a pestilence that destroys without hesitation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025
He threw out a wave of pestilence and decay.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
