Definition

1. Noun:
   • Small destructive animals or insects: Refers to various small wild animals or insects that are considered pests because they cause damage, spread disease, or are a nuisance. This includes creatures like rats, mice, cockroaches, and lice.
   • An irritating or obnoxious person: Used figuratively and offensively to describe a person or group of people considered to be despicable, contemptible, or harmful to society.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Animals/Insects):
  • The old barn was infested with vermin.
  • Farmers work hard to keep vermin out of their grain stores.
• Noun (Person - offensive):
  • The dictator referred to the political dissidents as vermin. (Note: This usage is highly derogatory.)

Advanced Usage

• Collective noun: "Vermin" is typically used as a collective noun, referring to the pests as a group. It is often treated as plural.
  • Vermin are a serious problem in this neighborhood.
• Figurative and pejorative use: The term is strongly pejorative when applied to people, implying they are subhuman or a plague on society. Its use is offensive and dehumanizing.

Variants and Related Words

• Verminous (adj): Relating to or infested with vermin; also used to describe something as foul or despicable.
  • The verminous conditions of the tenement were appalling.

Synonyms

• Pests: Animals or insects that are destructive or a nuisance.
• Rodents: Often a subset of vermin (e.g., rats, mice).
• Parasites: Organisms that live on or in a host, often causing harm; can be used figuratively for people.
• Scum (for the figurative, human sense): A very offensive term for people considered worthless or despicable.

Idioms and Fixed Phrases

• (To be) treated like vermin: To be treated with extreme contempt and disrespect, as if one were a pest.
  • The refugees were treated like vermin at the border.

Noun

1. any of various small animals or insects that are pests; e.g. cockroaches or rats
   • cereals must be protected from mice and other vermin
   • he examined the child's head for vermin
   • boys in the village have probably been shooting vermin
2. an irritating or obnoxious person