Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Producing or breeding infectious disease.
- adjective Infected with or contaminated by an epidemic disease.
- adjective Morally evil or deadly; pernicious.
- adjective Bothersome; annoying.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Plague-bearing; pestilential; infectious; contagious: as, pestiferous particles.
- Noxious in any manner; mischievous; malignant; annoying.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Pest-bearing; pestilential; noxious to health; malignant; infectious; contagious.
- adjective Noxious to peace, to morals, or to society; vicious; hurtful; destructive.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective containing
organisms that causecontagious diseases - adjective
annoying ,vexatious
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective contaminated with infecting organisms
- adjective causing irritation or annoyance
- adjective tending to corrupt or pervert
- adjective likely to spread and cause an epidemic disease
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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Vermont's record on the slavery issue was so strong that Georgia's legislature resolved that a ditch be dug around the "pestiferous" state and it be floated out to sea.
The Independent Republic of Vermont William Harryman 2007
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He had hitched his wagon to a star and been landed in a pestiferous marsh.
Chapter 41 2010
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In his call for a crusade, Innocent III denounced the Cathars as “pestiferous men.”
Bloodlust Russell Jacoby 2011
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In his call for a crusade, Innocent III denounced the Cathars as “pestiferous men.”
Bloodlust Russell Jacoby 2011
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Even pestiferous snow geese should be hunted with respect, not shot like rats or starlings.
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To me this sounds like the voice of privilege complaining about how annoying it is to deal with those pestiferous people who keep pointing out how unfair the privilege is.
Chip Berlet: Abstaining from Bad Sects Chip Berlet 2010
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To me this sounds like the voice of privilege complaining about how annoying it is to deal with those pestiferous people who keep pointing out how unfair the privilege is.
Chip Berlet: Abstaining from Bad Sects Chip Berlet 2010
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“Let us say a bond of, oh, only a pound, because she caused some trouble to that pestiferous printer Franklin.”
The Secret of the Sealed Room Bailey MacDonald 2010
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All decent and patriotic Americans can now only hope that this will reinforce the Post's image as the champion of the Watergate exposure and an example of the integrity of America's fee (oops!) press, and, moreover, that it finally stills those pestiferous agitators, single-payer advocates, peaceniks, and other such rabble-rousers.
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The place was of the most ricketty description, and situated in the midst of filthy and pestiferous nuisances.
James Catnach, Ballad-monger, Part 1 Steve 2009
ofravens commented on the word pestiferous
For some reason, whenever I hear this word I mentally pair it with 'varmint.'
July 24, 2008
dontcry commented on the word pestiferous
*hork*
July 24, 2008