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Glite Dictionary
pestilential area

pestilential area

9.5
An area that is dangerous to health because of disease
  • noun
  • /ˌpɛstɪˈlɛnʃəl ˈɛəriə/
  • Formal
translation icon : zona pestilente
  • Local authorities declared the market a pestilential area after an outbreak of disease was traced there.

Examples

  • Medical teams worked to sanitize the pestilential area before allowing people to return.

  • Residents were warned to stay away from the pestilential area near the stagnant water.

  • Don't go near that pestilential area!

  • The pestilential area was quarantined.

  • Local authorities declared the market a pestilential area after an outbreak of disease was traced there.

  • Residents were warned to stay away from the pestilential area near the stagnant water.

  • Medical teams worked to sanitize the pestilential area before allowing people to return.

Synonyms

danger zone
vspestilential area
13 3.8

An area or situation where people are likely to be hurt

is specific to health danger from disease rather than any type of risk
pesthole
vspestilential area
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A crowded dirty place where disease spreads quickly

is dangerous to health more broadly not only as a disease source

Antonyms

clean
∞ 1.0

Free from dirt or harmful things

How Unhealthy

pestilential area
  • Formal
9.5
infected
5 3.3
unsanitary
16 3.7
clean
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

pestilential area singular
pestilential areas plural

Morphology

pestilential + area

The meaning is directly compositional: 'pestilential' (relating to pestilence or disease) modifies 'area' (a region), so a learner who knows both words will infer an area dangerous to health. This follows a regular adjective+noun pattern with no idiomatic shift, making the phrase transparent.

Etymology

The phrase pestilential area may come from old uses of pestilential to describe an area full of disease or bad air, like a market with rotten food or standing water. So, the phrase now means 'a place dangerous to health'.