pestiferous
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˌpɛstəˈfɛrəs/
- Literature
:
corruptor
- The pestiferous influence of corrupt leaders can damage the values of an entire community.
Examples
-
Many argued that the pestiferous behavior seen in some politicians is ruining public trust.
-
Yet the pestiferous woman had recently had another baby!
Fiction book (1993) -
Around him pullulates the pestiferous world.
Fiction book (1999) -
Now, I'm familiar with the term "maggot" but... pestiferous?
-
But the dead are also the enslaved, entombed in slavery—another common conceit: Frederick Douglass once wrote about his escape as "a resurrection from the dark and pestiferous tomb of slavery."
Academic text (2011) -
The group condemned the pestiferous ideas that were spreading through their society.
Synonyms
5
8.3
Having very bad character and doing dishonest things
4
8.1
Completely dishonest and morally bad in every part
1
7.9
Causing people to become dishonest or act immorally
Making people do wrong things and lose good values
Antonyms
How Corrupting
- Formal
23
8.2
- Literature
1
9.9
1
6.7
161
2.6
231
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Pestiferous comes from Latin pestis ('plague') and -fer ('to carry'), so it once meant 'plague-carrying'. A helpful way to remember the moral sense is to think of something that 'spreads harm', which is why it can describe ideas or influences that corrupt or spoil people.