plague rat
- noun
- /pleɪɡ ræt/
- Offensive
:
rata
- The media labeled the politician a plague rat for his corrupt dealings.
Examples
-
He was called a plague rat for spreading rumors at work.
-
Don't be a plague rat and spread rumors!
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After the scandal, he felt like a plague rat among his peers.
-
He is nothing but a plague rat in this community.
-
After the scandal, he felt like a plague rat among his peers.
-
The media labeled the politician a plague rat for his corrupt dealings.
-
He was called a plague rat for spreading rumors at work.
Synonyms
330
7.3
A person who betrays a group by telling secret information to outsiders
24
7.2
A person who is cruel and strongly disliked
13
9.9
A rude word for a person who is cruel or dishonest
2
9.9
A person who betrays their friends or group
1
9.1
A person who behaves badly or annoys others, often as a joke
1
8.2
A person or thing that spreads harmful ideas and bad habits
1
9.0
An insulting name for a person thought to be very bad and not to be trusted
1
9.8
An annoying person or thing that keeps coming back
A person who betrays others and cannot be trusted
Antonyms
How Despised
Surface Forms
Morphology
The derogatory sense is directly derivable from combining 'plague' (a harmful scourge) with 'rat' (a despised animal and common metaphor for a despicable person). The compound straightforwardly evokes someone likened to a disease-spreading rodent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the negative meaning.
Etymology
Plague rat comes from the strong image of a rat carrying a plague, because people long ago blamed rats for spreading deadly sickness. That's why calling someone a plague rat means they are seen as like a spreader of disease or an 'unwanted' and 'harmful' person.