pestilent

adjective

ˈpe-stə-lənt How to pronounce pestilent (audio)
Definition of pestilentnext
1
as in infectious
capable of being passed by physical contact from one person to another proper hand washing will help prevent the spread of most pestilent diseases

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in annoying
causing annoyance pestilent reporters hounding him night and day

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in lethal
likely to cause or capable of causing death pestilent diseases such as bubonic plague and smallpox

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pestilent But there were plenty of living famouses who were positively pestilent with Knicks fever. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 14 June 2026 Long dismissed as pestilent rodents, beavers are now coming to be understood as autonomous biosphere managers that may be indispensable in the fight against the effects of climate chaos. — New Atlas, 28 Dec. 2025 Any dairy farmer can tell you that biting flies are a pestilent scourge for cattle herds, which is why one so often sees cows throwing their heads, stamping their feet, flicking their tails, and twitching their skin—desperately trying to shake off the nasty creatures. — ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2025 New York scored a big win in its comeback over the pestilent Houston Rockets on Monday. — Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 8 Feb. 2025 The high densities of brine flies — so dense shorelines can look like they are matted with tar — are an indication of a healthy lake, not a pestilent one. — Daniel Rothberg, Vox, 1 Oct. 2024 The former was true in the Pelicans' Game 4 as the eagle-wingspan need small forward Jones' and pestilent 6-foot Alvarado's varied physical traits held him to a playoff career-low four points and caused three turnovers. — Dana Scott, The Arizona Republic, 29 Apr. 2022 Island living looks like a privilege when the world is pestilent. — New York Times, 31 Oct. 2020 Herbicides also are available to contend with the pestilent plant. — cleveland, 30 June 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pestilent
  1. infectious
  2. annoying
  3. lethal
  4. infective
  5. irritating
  6. deadly
  7. frustrating
  8. poisonous
Adjective
  • The portable machine uses pulses of full-spectrum ultraviolet light to kill infectious germs inside hospital rooms.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Multiple baby goats at a North Carolina mobile petting zoo had rabies and may have been in direct contact with people at events while infectious, state health officials said Friday.
    — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of infectious
Adjective
  • Adults’s Gen-Z characters tend to see their comforts as transient, their identities as mutable, and seriousness as an annoying obligation, all of which the second season pokes at a bit.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Fluctuating estrogen levels can disrupt the nerves responsible for your sense of scent, leading to this symptom that’s equally bizarre and annoying.
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of annoying
Adjective
  • Dozens of companies have withdrawn over the past decades due to poor profits, an uncertain business outlook and concerns about harm to their reputations from making arms, especially lethal weapons.
    — Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Airwars is the first to map the damage radius of the strikes in Lamerd and estimate the lethal range of the weapon used.
    — Julia Frankel, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of lethal
Adjective
  • The team confirmed that those eggs developed into infective third-stage larvae.
    — Jay Kakade August 05, Refractor, 5 Aug. 2026
  • His provisional cause of death was given as multi-organ failure due to infective endocarditis, a rare infection of the inner lining or valves of the heart.
    — Daniel Taylor, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
Definition of infective
Adjective
  • His irritating habit of starting each meeting with the ping of a bell reinforces his personality.
    — Oline Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The larger battery gives it the sort of range that makes an EV genuinely useful for long-distance driving, while the interior avoids some of the irritating touchscreen-heavy trends found elsewhere.
    — Matthew MacConnell, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of irritating
Adjective
  • The death toll from a Russian strike on a warehouse west of Kyiv, the war's deadliest attack so far this year, rose to 38 with four people still missing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media Sunday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Ukraine launched deadly strikes in recent months on the facilities of Russia’s biggest online retailer, Wildberries, saying the company sells dual-use goods that have aided the Kremlin’s war effort.
    — Samya Kullab, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of deadly
Adjective
  • At this point in the draft, every RB has questions, but volume remains king, and Harvey could be in a frustrating battle for touches all season.
    — Jonathan Rubin, Charlotte Observer, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Bohm’s Phillies career has been sometimes frustrating, sometimes exciting, sometimes perplexing.
    — Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of frustrating
Adjective
  • But the point was just that Nick’s character is emulating Sheridan’s poisonous corrupted values, and the internet is a vehicle for that relationship.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2026
  • For this reason, these poisonous mushrooms are more commonly confused with other types of edible mushrooms like chicken of the woods and chanterelles (more on these in a minute).
    — Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of poisonous

Browse Nearby Words

pestilences
pestilent
pestilential
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Cite this Entry

“Pestilent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pestilent. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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