pestilent

pestilent

adjective

Definition of PESTILENT

1

capable of being passed by physical contact from one person to another <proper hand washing will help prevent the spread of most pestilent diseases>

Synonyms catching, communicable, pestilent, transmissible, transmittable

Related Words infectious, infective

Near Antonyms noninfectious

Antonyms noncommunicable

2

causing annoyance <pestilent reporters hounding him night and day>

Synonyms abrasive, aggravating, bothersome, carking, chafing, disturbing, exasperating, frustrating, galling, irksome, irritating, maddening, nettlesome, nettling, peeving, pesky, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential, pesty, plaguey (also plaguy), rankling, rebarbative, riling, vexatious, vexing

Related Words burdensome, discomforting, displeasing, disquieting, distressing, importunate, importune, inconveniencing; angering, enraging, infuriating; brattish, bratty, mischievous, offensive, troublesome, upsetting; distractive, painful, stressful, tiresome, troubling, trying, worrisome; biting, grating, jangling, jarring, spiny, thorny

Near Antonyms delightful, pleasing

3

likely to cause or capable of causing death <pestilent diseases such as bubonic plague and smallpox>

Synonyms baleful, deathly, fatal, fell, killer, lethal, mortal, murderous, pestilent, terminal, vital

Related Words baneful, deleterious, destructive, harmful, injurious, noxious, pernicious, truculent; infectious, infective, pestilential, poisonous, sublethal, toxic, virulent; dangerous, grave, grievous, hazardous, jeopardizing, menacing, parlous, perilous, risky, serious, threatening, ugly, unhealthy, unsound; bloody, internecine, sanguinary, sanguine

Near Antonyms beneficial, restorative, salubrious, salutary; alleviative, corrective, curative, remedial, tonic; advantageous, beneficial, useful; nonpoisonous, nontoxic, safe

Antonyms healthful, healthy, nonfatal, nonlethal, wholesome