scourge
Americannoun
noun
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a person who harasses, punishes, or causes destruction
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a means of inflicting punishment or suffering
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a whip used for inflicting punishment or torture
verb
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to whip; flog
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to punish severely
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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scourgernoun
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self-scourgingadjective
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unscourgedadjective
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unscourgingadjective
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scourginglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scourgesimple
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scourgessimple
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have scourgedperfect
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has scourgedperfect
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am scourgingprogressive
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are scourgingprogressive
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is scourgingprogressive
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have been scourgingperfect progressive
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has been scourgingperfect progressive
Past
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scourgedsimple
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had scourgedperfect
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was scourgingprogressive
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were scourgingprogressive
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had been scourgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scourge
1175–1225; (noun) Middle English < Anglo-French escorge, derivative of escorgier to whip < Vulgar Latin *excorrigiāre, derivative of Latin corrigia thong, whip ( see ex- 1); (v.) Middle English < Old French escorgier
Explanation
If something makes people miserable or causes them great pain and torment, it's a scourge. A corrupt government is one kind of scourge, and a plague of insects that destroys a farmer's crops is another kind of scourge. Dating from the 13th century, scourge originally meant "a whip used as punishment." It wasn't long until the figurative meaning of "something causing pain or misery" became even more common. A scourge tends to be something that causes folks to suffer terribly, whether it's a tsunami or unjust laws. You can also use this word as a verb: "Cutting the city's transportation budget will do nothing but scourge people without cars."
Vocabulary lists containing scourge
"Of Mice and Men"
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Beowulf
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This Week in Words: September 8 - 14, 2018
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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.
Speaking at a crisis meeting, France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu warned of "a tragic scourge of drownings", saying 40 mostly young people had drowned since June 18.
From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026
This isn’t the first time Kavanaugh has written about the scourge of racism in jury selection.
From Slate • May 28, 2026
One cites her newfound sobriety as evidence that people can change — a nod to Steyer’s self-proclaimed metamorphosis from hedge fund titan to scourge of big corporations.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
"My hope is that where these institutions have led, others will follow, in workplaces, boardrooms, classrooms and on social media, so that we can finally begin to tackle this scourge together," he added.
From BBC • May 9, 2026
Dr. Jean Devèze, a recent French arrival, condemned Rush with a passion: “He, I say, is a scourge more fatal to the human kind than the plague itself would be.”
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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.
