pestilential

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pestilential

/ˌpɛstɪˈlɛnʃi.əl/
/ˌpɛstɪˈlɛnʃəl/

Where it comes from

From Latin pestilentialis, from pestilentia.

adjective more pestilential · most pestilential

Producing, spreading, promoting or infected with pestilence; causing infection. (of people, animals, places or substances) 1675, John Dryden, The Mistaken Husband, London: J. Magnes and R. Bentley, Act V, p. 63, What do you fear? Why do you shun me thus. […] I am not Pestilential, nor Leaprous.
Similar: pestiferous
Spreading in the manner of pestilence. (of illnesses) A long sicknesse will weary friends at last; but a pestilentiall sicknes auerts them from the beginning.
Caused by pestilence. (of symptoms) pestilential fever; pestilential sweating
During which pestilence spreads. (of a period of time) Now this pestilentiall Summer being well spent, upon the approach of the Winter, and decrease of the Sicknesse, the King […] drawes nearer to the City of London,
figuratively Having a harmful moral effect (especially one that is believed to spread in the manner of pestilence). But as the Poisons of the deadliest kind Are to their own unhappy Coasts confin’d, […] So Presby’try and Pestilential Zeal Can only flourish in a Common-weal.
Similar: pernicious
figuratively Causing irritation or annoyance. There’s the pestilential nuisances who write for autographs […] They’d none of ’em be missed!
Similar: annoying, irritating, pestiferous, pestilent, troublesome, vexatious

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MLA

"pestilential." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pestilential. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pestilential. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pestilential

Chicago

"pestilential." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pestilential.

BibTeX

@misc{pestilential_2026,
  title = {pestilential},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pestilential},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}