plague
Americannoun
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plagues
plural
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an epidemic disease that causes high mortality; pestilence.
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an infectious, epidemic disease caused by a bacterium, Yersinia pestis, characterized by fever, chills, and prostration, transmitted to humans from rats by means of the bites of fleas.
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any widespread affliction, calamity, or evil, especially one regarded as a direct punishment by God.
a plague of war and desolation.
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any cause of trouble, annoyance, or vexation.
Uninvited guests are a plague.
verb (used with object)
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plagues,
present (3rd person singular)
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plagued,
past participle, past
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plaguing
present participle
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to trouble, annoy, or torment in any manner.
The question of his future plagues him with doubt.
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to annoy, bother, or pester.
Ants plagued the picnickers.
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to smite with a plague, pestilence, death, etc.; scourge.
those whom the gods had plagued.
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to infect with a plague; cause an epidemic in or among.
diseases that still plague the natives of Ethiopia.
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to afflict with any evil.
He was plagued by allergies all his life.
noun
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any widespread and usually highly contagious disease with a high fatality rate
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an infectious disease of rodents, esp rats, transmitted to man by the bite of the rat flea ( Xenopsylla cheopis )
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See bubonic plague
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something that afflicts or harasses
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informal an annoyance or nuisance
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a pestilence, affliction, or calamity on a large scale, esp when regarded as sent by God
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archaic used to express annoyance, disgust, etc
a plague on you
verb
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to afflict or harass
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to bring down a plague upon
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informal to annoy
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Any of various highly infectious, usually fatal epidemic diseases.
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An often fatal disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted to humans usually by fleas that have bitten infected rats or other rodents.
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◆ Bubonic plague, the most common type, is characterized by the tender, swollen lymph nodes called buboes, fever, clotting abnormalities of the blood, and tissue necrosis. An epidemic of bubonic plague in fourteenth-century Europe and Asia was known as the Black Death.
Synonym Usage
See bother.
Discover More
The term is also used to refer to widespread outbreaks of many kinds, such as a “plague of locusts.”
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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plaguesimple
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plaguessimple
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have plaguedperfect
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has plaguedperfect
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am plaguingprogressive
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are plaguingprogressive
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is plaguingprogressive
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have been plaguingperfect progressive
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has been plaguingperfect progressive
Past
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plaguedsimple
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had plaguedperfect
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was plaguingprogressive
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were plaguingprogressive
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had been plaguingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plague
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English plage, from Latin plāga “stripe, wound,” Late Latin: “pestilence”
Explanation
When the homeowner described her ant problem as a plague, the exterminator thought she was being a bit melodramatic. After all, a few bugs aren't exactly a huge calamity. Centuries ago, if you had admitted to a friend that you had the plague, that friend would have hightailed it in the other direction. In the Middle Ages, the plague was a horribly contagious illness that spread like wildfire through Europe, killing millions of people. Thanks to the introduction of better hygiene and antibiotics, plague doesn't describe a killer disease as often these days. Instead, it commonly overstates an annoyance, like an apartment dweller claiming his building is plagued by cockroaches.
Vocabulary lists containing plague
A Long Walk to Water
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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.
See Examples For:
She, much like the person behind the proverbial controller, is dropped into a world quickly becoming overrun by a viral plague with no idea what to do.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Thor Industries had a challenging fiscal 2026, and the company said many of the headwinds it faced are expected to continue to plague its business in the year ahead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The plague of broken quarterbacks began on the season’s opening night when Darnold suffered what turned out to be a glute injury.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Researchers examined where individual plague genomes appeared on the bacterium's evolutionary tree and used that information to refine the likely dates of many samples.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Aluthra was nineteen the year the pox plague hit Bengal.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
This is not helped by the insecurity that plagues eastern DR Congo.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
How many malodorously toxic episodes does that make toward the seven plagues in the Old Testament?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
We’ve had plagues and climate change before, to some degree, but until the Manhattan Project, humans weren’t really in control of that kind of existential, destructive power.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Acts of God are environmental: droughts, floods, locust plagues and the unusual winters that froze the Thames, contributing to recessions in 1710, 1739-40, 1762 and 1946-47.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
It turns out the deceased civilians database has more information about the plagues than I guessed.
From "Legend" by Marie Lu
The Chargers are plagued by costly turnovers and mistakes down the stretch in a 26-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders that sends them to 0-2 on the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
Disease plagued Japan’s stalled masses, and “death was like a ghost following” the 11th army.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
It’s a rumor that’s plagued Velez’s legacy for decades.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026
It has been plagued by marine heatwaves in recent years - driven by climate change.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Many homes in Uvira had been left empty by families fleeing the conflicts that plagued the area.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
Combining wicked satire with genuine hope, Randy Boyagoda’s latest novel takes on the financial, moral and cultural crises plaguing modern academia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Luria said that Microsoft has now countered the negative narratives that were plaguing its stock earlier this year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
Nigeria's president has approved the country's largest military expansion in recent times - an attempt to tackle the slew of security challenges plaguing the nation.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
There is no wall up, no layer of artifice between the musician and the actor plaguing modern biopics.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
Bangala, for example, the poisonwood tree that was plaguing us all half to death.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
