pestilence
/'pestiləns/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague: A serious, widespread illness that causes many deaths.
- An evil influence or idea that spreads destructively: Something harmful that corrupts and is difficult to eliminate.
Examples of Usage
- Noun:
- The Black Death was a terrible pestilence that swept through Europe in the 14th century.
- The novel describes a city ravaged by pestilence and famine.
- Corruption is a moral pestilence that weakens the foundations of society.
Advanced Usage
- "A pestilence upon...": An archaic or literary curse wishing harm or disease upon someone or something.
- "A pestilence upon both your houses!" (A famous line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, expressing a wish for disaster to strike the feuding families.)
Variants and Related Words
- Pestilent (adj): Causing disease or moral harm.
- The swamp was a pestilent place, full of mosquitoes.
- Pestilential (adj): Relating to or resembling a pestilence; harmful or annoying.
- The pestilential fumes from the factory polluted the air.
Synonyms
- Plague: A contagious bacterial disease; a cause of widespread trouble.
- Epidemic: A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease.
- Scourge: A person or thing that causes great trouble or suffering.
Related Phrases
- Pestilence and war: Often paired in literature and history to describe catastrophic events.
- The period was marked by pestilence and war.
Related Idioms
- To spread like a pestilence: To propagate rapidly and harmfully.
- The rumor spread through the town like a pestilence.
Noun
- a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of
- racism is a pestilence at the heart of the nation
- according to him, I was the canker in their midst
- any epidemic disease with a high death rate
- a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal