vermin
Americannoun
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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.
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an objectionable or obnoxious person, or such persons collectively.
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animals that prey upon game, as coyotes or weasels.
noun
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(functioning as plural) small animals collectively, esp insects and rodents, that are troublesome to man, domestic animals, etc
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an unpleasant, obnoxious, or dangerous person
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of vermin
1300–50; Middle English vermyne < Anglo-French, Middle French vermin, vermine < Vulgar Latin *verminum, *vermina, based on Latin vermin-; see verminate
Compare meaning
How does vermin compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Vermin is a catch-all term that can be used for any small animals or insects that we think of as pests. The cockroaches you found in your bathroom were the grossest vermin you'd ever seen. The word vermin originally came from the Anglo-French word of the same spelling, meaning "noxious animals" — definitely a negative term. Rats, mice, cockroaches, along with pests to farmers and the animals they raise, like coyotes and weasels, are vermin. Annoying people who cause problems are also sometimes called vermin, like the vermin who bully others.
Vocabulary lists containing vermin
Bud, Not Buddy
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"The Metamorphosis," Vocabulary from the novella
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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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.
No more using a boot for headwear, as one convention mainstay named Vermin Supreme did.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
Vermin beware: New York City just hired its first rat czar.
From Washington Times • Apr. 13, 2023
Vermin need to be excellent deep-dive swimmers to make if from the hidden side of the trap to the room side that you see when you peer down into the bowl.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 18, 2022
Image: Nintendo In keeping with the theme, there’s a slightly remixed version of the mole-smashing Game & Watch game Vermin, which now stars a stick figure version of Link.
From The Verge • Nov. 12, 2021
He slept under a blanket that held “double its Weight of Vermin such as Lice Fleas & c.”
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
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.
