blight on the neighborhood
- noun
- Many residents complained that the empty lot was a blight on the neighborhood.
Examples
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Abandoned cars on the street create a real blight on the neighborhood, making it look neglected.
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The burned-out factory soon became a blight on the neighborhood that everyone wanted removed.
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A poorly maintained property can quickly turn into a blight on the neighborhood if left unchecked.
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That abandoned house is a real blight on the neighborhood.
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The old factory has become a blight on the neighborhood.
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The old factory has become a blight on the neighborhood as it deteriorates without any maintenance.
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When the park was overrun with weeds and trash, it turned into a blight on the neighborhood, affecting property values.
Synonyms
A part of a town that is damaged, empty, and run down
Antonyms
How Damaging
Surface Forms
Morphology
blight + on + the + neighborhood
The noun 'blight' (deterioration or ruin) combined with the locative prepositional phrase 'on the neighborhood' yields a directly compositional meaning: something that spoils or damages the neighbourhood. This follows normal noun + PP composition (target/location) and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Blight on the neighborhood comes from blight, a plant disease that makes leaves turn brown and die, and neighborhood, meaning the local area. Imagine a spot of dead plants that spreads and makes the whole area look ugly, and that's why it means 'something that spoils the appearance or quality of a neighborhood'.