as in severity
biting sharpness of feeling or expression
the virulency of his critical judgments became the stuff of Broadway legend
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Recent Examples of virulency
The virulency of Covid-19 trained even those of us who shop locally out of principal to purchase online.
—
Marc Peruzzi, Outside Online, 2 Mar. 2021
Marc Peruzzi, Outside Online, 2 Mar. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for virulency
Noun
-
But now, he will be sidelined as the Royals look to determine the severity of the injury.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
10 June 2026
-
The bear was approximately 17 months old, and in the 70-pound range, Collins said, explaining the severity of the situation.—
Jazmin Alvarado,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
Add the lime juice just before serving to preserve brightness and prevent bitterness.—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
9 June 2026
-
How did someone emerge from such darkness without becoming consumed by bitterness?—
Norman B. Gildin,
Sun Sentinel,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
The apparent loss of the aircraft came after hostilities in the region escalated over the weekend, with Iran and Israel exchanging their first direct strikes in months late Sunday.—
Todd Symons,
CNN Money,
9 June 2026
-
Pashinyan has implemented the complete transformation of Armenia’s position in the region and the world, going from a de facto protectorate of Russia to one bordering on hostility.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
8 June 2026
Noun
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Google also mentioned that the system could do more general hypothesizing that doesn’t involve drugs, using an example of the spread of virulence genes in bacteria.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
19 May 2026
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To predict how an outbreak will progress, epidemiologists often use stock-and-flow diagrams: illustrations featuring stocks of people (susceptible, infected, recovered, dead) and arrows showing flows between them based on factors such as exposure or virulence.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Those include lung cancer, colorectal cancer, ovarian and endometrial cancers, and cholangiocarcinoma (a type of bile-duct cancer), according to Revolution Medicines.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
8 June 2026
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The liver has many functions including producing bile and various proteins, storage of energy, metabolizing nutrients, and, perhaps most significantly, filtering toxins and wastes from the body.—
Dr. John De Jong,
Boston Herald,
7 June 2026
Noun
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But Lloyd’s version brims with mordancy.—
Sarah Weinman,
New York Times,
10 Feb. 2023
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The gray-tint, cross-hatched drawings evoke George Cruikshank and Samuel Palmer, but the mordancy is vintage Sendak.—
The Week Staff,
The Week,
17 Oct. 2022
Noun
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Jurors found that Grossman and Erickson both acted with conscious disregard for the boys' safety and malice, thereby awarding punitive damages in the wrongful death lawsuit.—
Julie Sharp,
CBS News,
10 June 2026
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Jurors decided that Grossman acted with malice and oppression and Erickson acted with malice, oppression, or fraud, kicking off the punitive phase of the trial.—
Richard Winton,
Los Angeles Times,
10 June 2026
Noun
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Death is often a flash point for communal anger.—
Gabrielle Emanuel,
NPR,
29 May 2026
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Lemieux was known for diving on the ice, embellishments that drew the anger of opponents, Farber said, and often his own teammates.—
Dan Robson,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Virulency.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/virulency. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
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