pestilence

noun

a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of

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 pestilence

plaguen pestn cankern murrainn epiphytoticadj epizooticadj diseasen blightn pestholen

Synonyms & related words for pestilence

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of pestilence — including plague, pest, canker, murrain, epiphytotic, epizootic. 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 pestilence

Explore words related to pestilence — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include antiplague, plaguer, pestilential, epidemics, pestilent, epizooty, scourges, bubonic. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for pestilence

Common synonyms for pestilence include plague, pest, canker, murrain, epiphytotic, epizootic, disease, blight — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does pestilence come from?

The word pestilence 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.