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, contagious, transmissible, transmittableRelated Words infectious, infectiveNear Antonyms noninfectiousAntonyms 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, annoying, pestilential, pesty, plaguey (also plaguy), rankling, rebarbative, riling, vexatious, vexingRelated 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, thornyNear 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, deadly, terminal, vitalRelated 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, sanguineNear Antonyms beneficial, restorative, salubrious, salutary; alleviative, corrective, curative, remedial, tonic; advantageous, beneficial, useful; nonpoisonous, nontoxic, safeAntonyms healthful, healthy, nonfatal, nonlethal, wholesome