pestilential
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˌpɛstɪˈlɛnʃəl/
- Literature
:
pestilente
- The scientists studied the pestilential outbreaks to understand how to prevent future epidemics.
- pestilential vapors
Examples
-
Municipal officials described them as "pestilential buildings, without air or light."
Academic text (2000) -
In summer, the pestilential marshes that surround the city are lethal.
-
Over its center, where they now stood, hovered the noxious stench of stagnant pools and pestilential marshes.
Fiction book (1992) -
The Pontine marshes became, it seems, both too marshy and too pestilential to farm, for a pronounced infestation of malaria accompanied this ecological change.
Academic text (2008) -
The pestilential conditions in the crowded slum made the spread of disease inevitable.
-
Residents were concerned about the pestilential air caused by the nearby factory emissions.
Synonyms
5
7.0
Able to cause disease in people, animals or plants
Likely to spread quickly and cause a disease outbreak
Likely to cause a serious illness that spreads quickly
Likely to spread disease
Antonyms
Compounds
- Literature
A harmful, quickly spreading story that causes distrust and trouble
- Literature
A very strong bad air that makes you think of rotting things or disease
How Contagious
Surface Forms
Morphology
pestilential = pestilence (transparent) = pestilence + ial
The adjective clearly derives from 'pestilence' with a standard adjectival suffix meaning 'relating to', so the meaning is directly recoverable by learners who know the noun.
Etymology
The word pestilential comes from the Latin word pestis, meaning 'plague', and is related to the English words pest and pestilence. So pestilential describes something that can 'spread disease' or is dangerous to health.