pestiferous

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
16
Words With Friends
18
Letters
11
Pronunciation
/ˌpɛsˈtɪfəɹəs/

Definition of pestiferous

2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. containing organisms that cause contagious diseases
    “because he hath vouchsafed to preserue our nation from such fountains, from serpents and venemous wormes, & from al other pestiferous & contagious creatures.”
    “In these solemn moments man discovers the germ of those vices, which like the Java tree shed a pestiferous vapour around--death is in the shade!”
    “and bears the body of our dear brother here departed to a hemmed-in churchyard, pestiferous and obscene, whence malignant diseases are communicated to the bodies of our dear brothers and sisters who have not departed...”
    “Wherever there is a vacant space the authorities have allowed refugees to put up pestiferous shacks, which now flank in unbroken lines the country roads leading into Rangoon, the railway tracks, and the shores of the Royal Lake.”
See all 2 definitions

adj

  1. containing organisms that cause contagious diseases
    “because he hath vouchsafed to preserue our nation from such fountains, from serpents and venemous wormes, & from al other pestiferous & contagious creatures.”
    “In these solemn moments man discovers the germ of those vices, which like the Java tree shed a pestiferous vapour around--death is in the shade!”
    “and bears the body of our dear brother here departed to a hemmed-in churchyard, pestiferous and obscene, whence malignant diseases are communicated to the bodies of our dear brothers and sisters who have not departed...”
    “Wherever there is a vacant space the authorities have allowed refugees to put up pestiferous shacks, which now flank in unbroken lines the country roads leading into Rangoon, the railway tracks, and the shores of the Royal Lake.”
  2. annoying, vexatious
    “No, prelate; such is thy audacious wickedness, / Thy lewd, pestiferous, and dissentious pranks, / As very infants prattle of thy pride.”
    “and if any could have hanged his hindering and pestiferous council and set him free, he would have answered Joan's prayer and set her in the field.”
    “Lois rescues Clark from the pestiferous curly...”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Mid 15th century, in sense “mischievous, pernicious”, from Latin pestiferus (“bearing plague”), from pestifer, from pestis (“plague”) + ferre (“carry”) (see infer). By surface analysis, pest + -i- (“bearing, carrying”) + -ferous.

Anagrams of pestiferous

1 play · some not in Scrabble

Words you can make from pestiferous

200+ playable · top: STUPEFIERS (15 pts)

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9-letter words

7 words

8-letter words

29 words

7-letter words

108 words

6-letter words

55 words

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