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
-
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:
But trouble started to plague the startup as it grew.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Paul Keim, plague researcher and professor at Northern Arizona University, also said there is no reason for people in North America to start taking doxycycline.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Or you might have seared in your mind the image of the beaked masks that plague doctors wore in the 1600s, which, given the lack of treatments at the time, became closely associated with death.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
Russia has not confirmed the woman died of plague and the governor of the local region said Thursday no health issues were detected after all her contacts were traced.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Finally Cassiopeia sat up and smiled, proving she was not, in fact, dead from the plague, and everyone settled down.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Most notably, “Practical Magic 2” is kneecapped by a fatal flaw that plagues almost all of these legacy sequels, but this one especially: It’s positively unsightly to look at.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
This is not helped by the insecurity that plagues eastern DR Congo.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
The catalyst for Jonathan Glatzer to create “The Audacity,” AMC’s dark satire of Silicon Valley that takes aim at the desperation that plagues it, began as a father witnessing his teenage son’s relationship with tech.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
But the fall of Spirit is a symptom of a deeper pathology that plagues both the American airline and automobile industries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
Weird stuff is happening that can’t be explained by the laws of nature, in which case our planet might be in store for a global meltdown full of crazy lava explosions and plagues of frogs.
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
“I wasn’t going to have it,” he told the BBC earlier this year, saying it was a vital means of communication for a rural community plagued by poor cell service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The rule was plagued by delays and litigation from the for-profit college industry.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
"This is no time to return anyone forcibly to a country plagued by egregious human rights violations and abuses," UN rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
“I know the catastrophic mechanical issues that have plagued Metrolink trains this year have severely undermined the reliability of the system and the confidence of the riders,” said L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
She was plagued enough by haints in her waking hours; she didn’t want them stalking her dreams as well.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
Robert Lee Williams, an incarcerated journalist, wrote about this story and the recent issues plaguing New York’s prison system for Slate.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally diagnosed the problem that had been plaguing Roki Sasaki ever since he arrived from Japan last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 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
“Begin to do something now by not plaguing his life out,” said Meg sharply.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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