pestilent

American  

[pes-tl-uhnt] / ˈpɛs tl ənt /

adjective

1. producing or tending to produce infectious or contagious, often epidemic, disease; pestilential.

2. destructive to life; deadly; poisonous.

3. injurious to peace, morals, etc.; pernicious.

4. troublesome, annoying, or mischievous.

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pestilent British  

/ ˈpɛstɪlənt /

adjective

1. annoying; irritating

2. highly destructive morally or physically; pernicious

3. infected with or likely to cause epidemic or infectious disease

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Other Word Forms

• antipestilent adjective
• antipestilently adverb
• nonpestilent adjective
• nonpestilently adverb
• pestilently adverb
• unpestilent adjective
• unpestilently adverb

Etymology

Origin of pestilent

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin pestilent- (stem of pestilēns ) unhealthy, noxious, alteration of pestilentus, equivalent to pesti- (stem of pestis ) pest + -lentus -lent

Example Sentences

A swath of the Santa Clarita Valley is under a first-of-its-kind quarantine after the invasive and pestilent tau fruit fly was found in the area, officials announced this week.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 28, 2023

Acland saw polluted water as a potential contributor to pestilent air, not as a medium for the spread of an invisible agent of disease.

From Scientific American • Jan. 29, 2019

Still, “The Good Mothers” is casting a wider net, indicting an entire pestilent culture.

From Washington Post • Jul. 5, 2018

It could be described as ‘a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors.’

From New York Times • Aug. 20, 2013

The air was steeped in evil during those muggy, pestilent days.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson