pest

noun

any unwanted and destructive insect or other animal that attacks food or crops or livestock etc.

a persistently annoying person

any epidemic disease with a high death rate

a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal

Roots

pestispest- · Latin · plague

Synonyms for pest

pesterern plaguen pestholen pestilencen plaguern gadflyn nuisancen

Synonyms & related words for pest

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of pest — including pesterer, plague, pesthole, pestilence, plaguer, gadfly. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to pest

Explore words related to pest — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include pestology, pestologist, fleahopper, disinfest, pesty, vermin, infestation, acariasis. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for pest

Common synonyms for pest include pesterer, plague, pesthole, pestilence, plaguer, gadfly, nuisance — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does pest come from?

The word pest breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root pest-, from Latin pestis (“plague”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.