vermin
Americannoun
plural
vermin-
noxious, objectionable, or disgusting animals collectively, especially those of small size that appear commonly and are difficult to control, as flies, lice, bedbugs, cockroaches, mice, and rats.
-
an objectionable or obnoxious person, or such persons collectively.
-
animals that prey upon game, as coyotes or weasels.
noun
-
(functioning as plural) small animals collectively, esp insects and rodents, that are troublesome to man, domestic animals, etc
-
an unpleasant, obnoxious, or dangerous person
Etymology
Origin of vermin
1300–50; Middle English vermyne < Anglo-French, Middle French vermin, vermine < Vulgar Latin *verminum, *vermina, based on Latin vermin-; verminate
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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.
Franz Kafka’s novella “The Metamorphosis” asks: What if, overnight, you became “a horrible vermin”—a creature among the most repellent ever to crawl the earth?
The burst of fire came again, and a tiny voice roared, “Get back, vermin! That is my biographer!”
From Literature
"There are vermin in the kitchen and in beds. It is overcrowded, it's even more overcrowding now that these protests have gone on in Tehran," he said.
From BBC
“Time was, coyotes were considered vermin,” Dad says.
From Literature
They were sued by several units in 2023 and 2024 over living conditions, including allegations of infestations of rats, vermin and cockroaches that tenants said made their lives “a living hell.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
