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Definition of "pestiferous" [pes•tif•er•ous]

  • Producing or breeding infectious disease. (adjective)
  • Infected with or contaminated by an epidemic disease. (adjective)
  • Morally evil or deadly; pernicious. (adjective)
  • Bothersome; annoying. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "pestiferous" in a sentence
  • "Vermont's record on the slavery issue was so strong that Georgia's legislature resolved that a ditch be dug around the "pestiferous" state and it be floated out to sea."
  • "He had hitched his wagon to a star and been landed in a pestiferous marsh."
  • "In his call for a crusade, Innocent III denounced the Cathars as “pestiferous men.”"