pestilential

[pes-tl-en-shuh l]

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adjective

producing or tending to produce pestilence.

pertaining to or of the nature of pestilence, especially bubonic plague.

pernicious; harmful.

annoyingly troublesome.

Origin of pestilential

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Medieval Latin word pestilentiālis. See pestilent, -ial

Related formspes·ti·len·tial·ly, adverbpes·ti·len·tial·ness, nounan·ti·pes·ti·len·tial, adjectivenon·pes·ti·len·tial, adjectiveun·pes·ti·len·tial, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pestilential

baneful, deadly, destructive, fatal, harmful, injurious, malign, malignant, mephitic, noxious, pernicious, pestilent, poison, toxic, toxicant, unhealthy, unwholesome, venomous, infective, septic

Examples from the Web for pestilential

Contemporary Examples of pestilential

I long for the day I no longer have to think about this pestilential little locust.
Ron Paul: Batty Old Reactionary for President
Michael Tomasky
December 14, 2011
When switched off to save supply, the result was pestilential odor.
Best of Brit Lit
Peter Stothard
June 18, 2009

Historical Examples of pestilential

Into its profound and pestilential depths, indeed, she can see.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 104, January 28, 1893
Various
The chief characteristic of Fuzby was a pestilential spirit of gossip.
St. Winifred's
Frederic W. Farrar
Yet pestilential as is the clime, the scenery is very beautiful.
Peter the Whaler
W.H.G. Kingston
But they were filled by the pestilential dead, and I passed by without exploring them.
The Scarlet Plague
Jack London
We got away from the pestilential Swamp and that poisonous ground.
Andersonville, Volume 3
John McElroy

British Dictionary definitions for pestilential

pestilential

adjective

dangerous or troublesome; harmful or annoying

of, causing, or resembling pestilence

Derived Formspestilentially, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pestilential

adj.

late 14c., from Medieval Latin pestilentialis, from Latin pestilentia "plague" (see pestilence). Related: Pestilentially.

pestilential in Medicine

pestilential

[pĕs′tə-lĕn′shəl]

adj.

Of, relating to, or tending to produce a pestilence.