pestilent

IPA/ˈpes.tɪ.lənt/
IPA/ˈpes.tɪ.lənt/

pestilent — adjective

  • pestilentpositive
  • more pestilentcomparative
  • most pestilentsuperlative

1. connected with an infectious illness so severe that it can race through a commun

1.形容詞C2
釋義

connected with an infectious illness so severe that it can race through a community and kill many people.

例句

Doctors feared a pestilent fever was moving from the ship to shore.

pestilent + disease noun

Sirin refused to enter the pestilent camp without a face covering.

同義詞
  • infectious

    the broad everyday word for an illness that can spread

  • contagious

    usually stresses easy spread by touch or close contact

  • deadly

    emphasises that the disease can kill, not how it spreads

  • virulent

    more technical, stressing the strength or severity of the disease

文法句型

pestilent + fever / infection / air

be pestilent

用法筆記

Usually modifies illness nouns such as fever, infection, air, or breath in older or literary writing. In present-day everyday English, speakers more often choose words such as 'infectious', 'contagious', or 'deadly'.

常見錯誤

❌A cold is a pestilent illness.
✅Plague was a pestilent illness.
💡use this sense for diseases that are extremely severe and widely destructive, not for an ordinary minor illness.

2. so irritating or troublesome that it keeps disturbing people or making life hard

2.形容詞C2
釋義

so irritating or troublesome that it keeps disturbing people or making life harder.

例句

Roya spent dinner swatting the pestilent flies around the fruit bowl.

pestilent + nuisance noun

Mark called the printer pestilent after it jammed for the third time.

be pestilent = very troublesome

同義詞
  • irritating

    neutral everyday word for something that annoys you

  • troublesome

    broader term for something that causes repeated difficulty

  • pesky

    much more informal and lighter in tone

文法句型

pestilent + flies / smell / noise

be pestilent

用法筆記

Often appears in older or literary English about insects, smells, noises, or other things that keep bothering people. Distinguish from sense 3, which focuses on deep social or moral harm rather than everyday nuisance.

常見錯誤

❌The speech was pestilent because it was long.
✅The speech was annoying because it was long.
💡this word is a strong, old-fashioned choice for something persistently troublesome, not a routine complaint about boredom.

3. seriously damaging in its effects, especially by spreading bad ideas or harmful

3.形容詞C2
釋義

seriously damaging in its effects, especially by spreading bad ideas or harmful influence through a group or society.

例句

The mayor warned that pestilent rumours were turning neighbour against neighbour.

pestilent + abstract noun

Ayesha rejected the pestilent idea that poor children should expect less.

同義詞
  • pernicious

    close formal synonym that stresses hidden or ongoing damage

  • harmful

    broader everyday word without the literary force

  • corrupting

    emphasises moral damage rather than general harm

反義詞
  • beneficial

    bringing good effects rather than damage

  • wholesome

    suggesting a healthy or morally good influence

文法句型

pestilent + idea / influence / rumour

spread pestilent + hatred / doctrine

用法筆記

Most often modifies abstract nouns such as idea, influence, rumour, or doctrine. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense implies deep damage to a community or moral life, not simple irritation.

常見錯誤

❌The exam schedule is pestilent.
✅The racist slogan is pestilent.
💡use this sense for ideas or influences that cause serious harm, not for ordinary inconvenience.