pestilential

American  

[pes-tl-en-shuhl] / ˌpɛs tlˈɛn ʃəl /

adjective

1. producing or tending to produce pestilence.

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

3. pernicious; harmful.

4. annoyingly troublesome.

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pestilential British  

/ ˌpɛstɪˈlɛnʃəl /

adjective

1. dangerous or troublesome; harmful or annoying

2. of, causing, or resembling pestilence

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Other Word Forms

• antipestilential
  adjective
• nonpestilential
  adjective
• pestilentially
  adverb
• pestilentialness
  noun
• unpestilential
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pestilential

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

Explanation

Infectious, plague-causing, and definitely disease-bearing: If it's likely to bring along pestilence, then it's pestilential. Today we know that dirty hands, unclean water, and bubonic plague-carrying rats can all be potentially pestilential. But back in the olden days, the culprit wasn't so clear. Too much merriment, too little merriment, too much fresh air, too little fresh air — all were considered pestilential at one time or another.

Example Sentences

Perhaps a word more may be allowed in regard to the paper on Pestilential Disorders by Noah Webster.

From Priestley in America 1794-1804 by Smith, Edgar Fahs

Pestilential place, goal of whirlwinds and dust-devils, ankle-deep in desert drift—prototype of Berber in a sandstorm—as comfortless by night as day.

From On the Heels of De Wet by James, Lionel

Pestilential Impostumes or Tumours are those that are accompany'd with a Fever, Swooning, Head-ach, and Faintness: They usually arise in the time of a Plague or Pestilence, and are contagious.

From The Compleat Surgeon or, the whole Art of Surgery explain'd in a most familiar Method. by Le Clerc, Charles Gabriel

And Riverius says, the Petechiæ do not always appear; but when they do, it is a most certain Sign of a Pestilential Fever.

From An Account of the Diseases which were most frequent in the British military hospitals in Germany by Monro, Donald

Many Authors have reckoned the Malignant, Petechial, and Pestilential, to be distinct Species of Fevers; and have treated each of them under a particular Head.

From An Account of the Diseases which were most frequent in the British military hospitals in Germany by Monro, Donald