1
botany
a
: a disease or injury of plants marked by the formation of lesions, withering, and death of parts (such as leaves and tubers)
potato blight
b
: an organism (such as an insect or a fungus) that causes blight
2
: something that frustrates plans or hopes
the blight of poverty
an abandoned factory that was a blight on the neighborhood
3
: something that impairs or destroys
… censorship … has brought under its blight Ireland's greatest poets, dramatists, and scholars.—
Paul Blanshard
Paul Blanshard4
: a deteriorated condition
urban blight
blighted; blighting; blights
1
botany
: to affect (a plant) with a disease or injury marked by the formation of lesions, withering, and death of parts (such as leaves and tubers) : to affect with blight (see blight entry 1 sense 1)
The apple trees were blighted by fungus.
2
: to impair the quality or effect of
the condition that has blighted his son's life—Patricia Guthrie
Patricia Guthrie
botany
: to suffer from or become affected with blight
The potatoes blighted.
Synonyms
Examples of blight in a Sentence
Noun
the city's spreading urban blight
the expanding urban sprawl is a blight on the countryside
Verb
Builders blighted the land with malls and parking lots.
Recent Examples on the WebGeorge Avalos, The Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2024
Peeling and fading in places, but admirably preserved amid the blight that time and inattention have wrought, the murals stand out starkly, even ominously.
—Sam McManis, Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2024
But economic depression set in after World War II, and by the 1980s Elefsina had become a byword for environmental damage and urban blight.
—Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2024
Some of California’s most treasured parks are threatened by blight caused by pollution and climate change, according to a pair of new reports.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Mallett later reorganized the structure of the department to create a division for blight cases, removing Raimi from that role and putting the responsibility on Harrison, according to the letter.
—Detroit Free Press, 25 Jan. 2024
The best strategy to avoid the threat of these diseases is to plant new, blight resistant varieties.
—Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 16 Mar. 2024
The great blight on Dashkova’s adolescent life was her polar opposite older sister, Elizaveta.
—E.r. Zarevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2024
Funded by federal dollars, the project was meant to eliminate blight by tearing down and replacing old houses, but opponents condemned the project as destructive.
—Journal Sentinel, 27 Feb. 2024
George Avalos, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2024
This would be a huge leap forward for Samsung’s flexible tech, which has been blighted by a visible dent right in the middle of the display for all previous Flip and Fold phones.
—Janhoi McGregor, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
In the 1970s, when even the Chrysler Building was in foreclosure, Mr. Trump bought the aging Commodore Hotel, turning it into a shiny Grand Hyatt, which in turn revitalized an area that was considered blighted at the time.
—Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024
But even as restaurants across the United States have shut down, Andrés has several in Washington that have survived not only the pandemic and inflation and labor shortages, but also the Great Recession of 2008, helping to transform a neighborhood once blighted by crime and store closures.
—Marcela Valdes. Photographs and Videos By Peden + Munk, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Located on the site of the former Snyder’s supermarket, which had sat vacant and blighted for decades, the city hopes the new library will act as a catalyst for the revitalization of the area.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 2 Jan. 2024
Even before the industry was facing a potential deluge of second-hand rental cars, customers were blighted with product recalls and said they were ‘duped’ by overnight price slashes as rival brands fight to remain price competitive.
—Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2024
These are the tiny, unseen agonies blighting ordinary, painful lives, as Putin’s war enters its third year.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 23 Feb. 2024
Not all see the graffiti as simply blight on the urban landscape, however.
—Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2024
Noun
The murky parts of this situation, however, are the steps city officials completed to ensure the blight and hazards at the houses were actually remediated.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2024
Peeling and fading in places, but admirably preserved amid the blight that time and inattention have wrought, the murals stand out starkly, even ominously.
—Sam McManis, Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2024
But economic depression set in after World War II, and by the 1980s Elefsina had become a byword for environmental damage and urban blight.
—Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2024
Some of California’s most treasured parks are threatened by blight caused by pollution and climate change, according to a pair of new reports.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Mallett later reorganized the structure of the department to create a division for blight cases, removing Raimi from that role and putting the responsibility on Harrison, according to the letter.
—Detroit Free Press, 25 Jan. 2024
The best strategy to avoid the threat of these diseases is to plant new, blight resistant varieties.
—Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 16 Mar. 2024
The great blight on Dashkova’s adolescent life was her polar opposite older sister, Elizaveta.
—E.r. Zarevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2024
Funded by federal dollars, the project was meant to eliminate blight by tearing down and replacing old houses, but opponents condemned the project as destructive.
—Journal Sentinel, 27 Feb. 2024
Verb
San Jose officials stated a revamp of the park would improve the neighborhood as well as upgrade the park, which has become somewhat blighted over the years.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2024
This would be a huge leap forward for Samsung’s flexible tech, which has been blighted by a visible dent right in the middle of the display for all previous Flip and Fold phones.
—Janhoi McGregor, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
In the 1970s, when even the Chrysler Building was in foreclosure, Mr. Trump bought the aging Commodore Hotel, turning it into a shiny Grand Hyatt, which in turn revitalized an area that was considered blighted at the time.
—Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024
But even as restaurants across the United States have shut down, Andrés has several in Washington that have survived not only the pandemic and inflation and labor shortages, but also the Great Recession of 2008, helping to transform a neighborhood once blighted by crime and store closures.
—Marcela Valdes. Photographs and Videos By Peden + Munk, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Located on the site of the former Snyder’s supermarket, which had sat vacant and blighted for decades, the city hopes the new library will act as a catalyst for the revitalization of the area.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 2 Jan. 2024
Even before the industry was facing a potential deluge of second-hand rental cars, customers were blighted with product recalls and said they were ‘duped’ by overnight price slashes as rival brands fight to remain price competitive.
—Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2024
These are the tiny, unseen agonies blighting ordinary, painful lives, as Putin’s war enters its third year.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 23 Feb. 2024
Not all see the graffiti as simply blight on the urban landscape, however.
—Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near blight
Cite this Entry
“Blight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blight. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
blight
1 of 2 noun1
a
: a disease of plants marked by withering and death of parts (as leaves)
b
: an organism that causes blight
2
a
: something that harms or destroys
b
: a damaged or worsened condition
urban blight
blight
2 of 2 verb1
: to affect with blight
2
: to damage or worsen the quality or condition of
slums and blighted areas
3
: to suffer from or become affected with blight
Medical Definition
blight
noun
Australian
: an inflammation of the eye in which the eyelids discharge a thick mucous substance that often seals them up for days and minute granular pustules develop inside the lid
called also sandy blight
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