virulent
“
FISHMAN: She doesn ` t have an alibi, but in some ways, what happens is that the very aggressive, virulent, awful nature of these e-mails suggests that this is not somebody -- who, after all, is a smart person, she went to University of Pennsylvania, got an MBA from Columbia.
View all »Definitions (12)
American Heritage Dictionary (4)
- adjective Extremely infectious, malignant, or poisonous. Used of a disease or toxin.
- adjective Capable of causing disease by breaking down protective mechanisms of the host. Used of a pathogen.
- adjective Bitterly hostile or antagonistic; hateful: virulent criticism. See Synonyms at poisonous.
Century Dictionary (4)
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet (3)
Elsewhere on the web
View all » Examples
- The more systematic, virulent, and crushing persecution of those who, defying the tyrant's rage, bared their bosoms to the storm; and had the courage at all hazards to plead for the royal prerogatives of Messiah the Prince, and to contend for the chartered liberties of the Presbyterian Church. — The Life of James Renwick
- But she had seen this kind of enemy before - just not so virulent, and not centered in the nerve-net and spine. — Owlsight
- At first it embarrassed me, like a virulent pimple on the end of my nose. — Terra Incognita
- In the fourth month, in February of 1871, that is, the virulent leprosy that abided in Kinau broke loose, and within the space of a few weeks she became a horribly riddled thing, a walking corpse with thick, bloated face, shivering lips about to fall away and sickening illness in her breasts. — Hawaii
-
FISHMAN: She doesn ` t have an alibi, but in some ways, what happens is that the very aggressive, virulent, awful nature of these e-mails suggests that this is not somebody -- who, after all, is a smart person, she went to University of Pennsylvania, got an MBA from Columbia.
— CNN Transcript Aug 10, 2006
Stats
Virulent has been looked up 482 times, favorited 3 times, listed 34 times, commented on twice, and has a Scrabble score of 11.
On Twitter
View all »Etymologies (3)
American Heritage Dictionary (1)
- Middle English, from Latin vīrulentus, from vīrus, poison.
Century Dictionary (1)
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet
Record your own »
Pronunciations
/ (vîrˈyə-lənt, vîrˈə-)/
ahd pronounces "virulent"
by
American Heritage Dictionary