Pestiferous

Pestiferous
Pestiferous Pes*tif"er*ous, a. [L. pestiferus, pestifer; pestis pest + ferre to bear: cf. F. pestif[`e]re.] 1. Pest-bearing; pestilential; noxious to health; malignant; infectious; contagious; as, pestiferous bodies. ``Poor, pestiferous creatures begging alms.'' --Evelyn. ``Unwholesome and pestiferous occupations.'' --Burke. [1913 Webster]

2. Noxious to peace, to morals, or to society; vicious; hurtful; destructive; as, a pestiferous demagogue. [1913 Webster]

Pestiferous reports of men very nobly held. --Shak. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • pestiferous — index contagious, dangerous, deadly, harmful, insalubrious, lethal, malignant, noxious, pernicious …   Law dictionary

  • pestiferous — mid 15c., mischievous, pernicious, figurative use of L. pestiferus that brings plague or destruction, variant of pestifer bringing plague, from pestis plague + ferre carry (see INFER (Cf. infer)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • pestiferous — [pes tif′ər əs] adj. [ME < L pestiferus < pestis, plague + ferre, to BEAR1] 1. a) bringing or carrying disease b) Archaic infected with an epidemic disease 2. dangerous to morals or to the welfare of society; noxious; evil …   English World dictionary

  • pestiferous — adjective /ˌpɛsˈtɪfərəs/ a) 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. b) annoying …   Wiktionary

  • pestiferous — SYN: pestilential. * * * pes·tif·er·ous pes tif (ə )rəs adj 1) carrying or propagating infection: PESTILENTIAL <a pestiferous insect> 2) infected with a pestilential disease * * * pes·tif·er·ous (pes tifґər əs) [pestis + ferous]… …   Medical dictionary

  • pestiferous — adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin pestifer pestilential, noxious, from pestis + fer ferous Date: 15th century 1. dangerous to society ; pernicious 2. a. carrying or propagating infection ; pestilential b. infected with a… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • pestiferous — pestiferously, adv. pestiferousness, n. /pe stif euhr euhs/, adj. 1. bringing or bearing disease. 2. pestilential. 3. pernicious; evil. 4. Informal. mischievous; troublesome or annoying. [1425 75; late ME < L pestiferus plague bringing, equiv. to …   Universalium

  • pestiferous — Synonyms and related words: aggravating, annoying, bad, bad for, baneful, bothering, bothersome, catching, communicable, contagious, contaminated, deadly, destructive, disturbing, endemic, envenomed, epidemial, epidemic, epiphytotic, epizootic,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • Pestiferous — mischievous, troublesome, or annoying …   Dictionary of Australian slang

  • pestiferous — Australian Slang mischievous, troublesome, or annoying …   English dialects glossary

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