pestiferous

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pes·tif·er·ous

(pĕ-stĭf′ər-əs)

adj.

a. Producing or breeding infectious disease.

b. Infected with or contaminated by an epidemic disease.

2. Morally evil or deadly; pernicious.

3. Bothersome; annoying.

[Middle English, from Latin pestiferus, variant of pestifer : pestis, pestilence; see pest + -fer, -fer.]

pes·tif′er·ous·ly adv.

pes·tif′er·ous·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pestiferous

(pɛˈstɪfərəs) or

pestful

adj

1. informal troublesome; irritating

2. (Pathology) breeding, carrying, or spreading infectious disease

3. corrupting; pernicious

[C16: from Latin pestifer, from pestis contagious disease, pest + ferre to bring]

pesˈtiferously adv

pesˈtiferousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pes•tif•er•ous

(pɛˈstɪf ər əs)

adj.

1. bringing or bearing disease.

2. pernicious; dangerous.

3. troublesome; annoying.

[1425–75; late Middle English < Latin pestiferus plague-bringing =pesti- (s. of pestis) pest + -ferus -ferous]

pes•tif′er•ous•ly, adv.

pes•tif′er•ous•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	pestiferous - contaminated with infecting organisms; "dirty wounds"; "obliged to go into infected rooms"- Jane Austen dirty infected, septic - containing or resulting from disease-causing organisms; "a septic sore throat"; "a septic environment"; "septic sewage"
	2.	pestiferous - likely to spread and cause an epidemic disease; "a pestilential malignancy in the air"- Jonathan Swift; "plaguey fevers" pestilential, plaguey, pestilent epidemic - (especially of medicine) of disease or anything resembling a disease; attacking or affecting many individuals in a community or a population simultaneously; "an epidemic outbreak of influenza"
	3.	pestiferous - tending to corrupt or pervert corruptive, perversive evil - morally bad or wrong; "evil purposes"; "an evil influence"; "evil deeds"
	4.	pestiferous - causing irritation or annoyance; "tapping an annoying rhythm on his glass with his fork"; "aircraft noise is particularly bothersome near the airport"; "found it galling to have to ask permission"; "an irritating delay"; "nettlesome paperwork"; "a pesky mosquito"; "swarms of pestering gnats"; "a plaguey newfangled safety catch"; "a teasing and persistent thought annoyed him"; "a vexatious child"; "it is vexing to have to admit you are wrong" annoying, bothersome, galling, irritating, nettlesome, pesky, pestering, plaguy, vexatious, vexing, plaguey, teasing disagreeable - not to your liking; "a disagreeable situation"

Translations

pestiferous

adj → verpestet; (inf: = annoying) → lästig

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

References in classic literature ?

He had hitched his wagon to a star and been landed in a pestiferous marsh.

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'You're devilish early at this pestiferous old slaughter-house,' said that gentleman, poising himself on one leg, and shaking the other in an easy manner.

View in context

For your highnesses must know that, going a few days back to kiss her hands and receive her benediction, approbation, and permission for this third sally, I found her altogether a different being from the one I sought; I found her enchanted and changed from a princess into a peasant, from fair to foul, from an angel into a devil, from fragrant to pestiferous, from refined to clownish, from a dignified lady into a jumping tomboy, and, in a word, from Dulcinea del Toboso into a coarse Sayago wench."

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Krook's and bears off 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, while our dear brothers and sisters who hang about official back-stairs--would to heaven they HAD departed!--are very complacent and agreeable.

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The clothes, on the other hand, were new to me, though older and more pestiferous in themselves than most worn by Raffles for professional purposes.

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I did my possible.' The fat man sighed, 'Very sad.' 'And the pestiferous absurdity of his talk,' continued the other;

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And I knew well enough the pestiferous danger of such a character where there are no means of legal repression.

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And on the luster of the great calm waters the Judea glided imperceptibly, enveloped in languid and unclean vapors, in a lazy cloud that drifted to leeward, light and slow: a pestiferous cloud defiling the splendor of sea and sky.

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One such system of interest pertains to the pestiferous Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), and its primary parasitoids, Diaphorencyrtus aligarhensis (Shafee, Alam & Agarwal) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) (Vankosky & Hoddle 2016).

Two parasitoids of Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae) have shared, stage-specific preference for host nymphs that does not impact pest mortality rates

(1986) also declared house crow (Corvus splendens), rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri), common myna (Acridotheres tristris), rosy starling (Sturnus roseus) and house sparrow (Passer domesticus) as pestiferous species responsible for the serious crop damages and economic losses.

Potential of natural repellents methylanthranilate and anthraquinone applied on maize seeds and seedlings against house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in captivity/Potencial de repelentes naturais, metilantranilato e antraquinona aplicados em sementes de milho e mudas contra o pardal (Passer domesticus) em cativeiro

"pestiferous"--and although he appears, according to the

A Subaltern Black Woman Sings the Blues: A Blues Aesthetic Analysis Sherley Anne Williams' Poetry

(76) Stubbes, The Anatomie of Abuses, "The horrible Vice of pestiferous dauncing."