Pestilent definition | Dictionary.com

Synonyms

baneful, deadly, malignant, noxious, pernicious, contagious, dangerous, harmful, infectious, lethal, pestiferous, corrupting

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Pestilent - 4 dictionary results

pes⋅ti⋅lent

[pes-tl-uh

nt]

–adjective

1.	producing or tending to produce infectious or contagious, often epidemic, disease; pestilential.

2.	destructive to life; deadly; poisonous.

3.	injurious to peace, morals, etc.; pernicious.

4.	troublesome, annoying, or mischievous.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L pestilent- (s. of pestilēns) unhealthy, noxious, alter. of pestilentus, equiv. to pesti- (s. of pestis) pest + -lentus -lent

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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pes·ti·lent (pěs'tə-lənt) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Tending to cause death; deadly.
Likely to cause an epidemic disease.
Infected or contaminated with a contagious disease.
Morally, socially, or politically harmful; pernicious. See Synonyms at poisonous.
Causing annoyance or disapproval.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pestilēns, pestilent-, from pestis, pestilence; see pest.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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pestilent
adjective
1.	exceedingly harmful [syn: baneful]
2.	likely to spread and cause an epidemic disease; "a pestilential malignancy in the air"- Jonathan Swift; "plaguey fevers"

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Pestilent

Pes"ti*lence\, n. [F. pestilence, L. pestilentia. See Pestilent.]

1. Specifically, the disease known as the plague; hence, any contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.

The pestilence That walketh in darkness. --Ps. xci. 6.

2. Fig.: That which is pestilent, noxious, or pernicious to the moral character of great numbers.

I'll pour this pestilence into his ear. --Shak.

Pestilence weed (Bot.), the butterbur coltsfoot (Petasites vulgaris), so called because formerly considered a remedy for the plague. --Dr. Prior.