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 WebKenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 14 July 2024
The diseases are early blight and tomato spotted wilt virus, while the pests are psyllids.
—Betty Cahill, The Denver Post, 13 July 2024
Jacob Ware, TIME, 15 July 2024
In the 1960s, whole blocks of Hartford deemed as blighted, were razed to build Constitution Plaza.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 14 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for blight 
Noun
The South Street building was cited in March for blight.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 14 July 2024
The diseases are early blight and tomato spotted wilt virus, while the pests are psyllids.
—Betty Cahill, The Denver Post, 13 July 2024
Verb
The rise in domestic terrorism that has blighted the American heartland over the past several years has been perpetrated predominately by the violent far right.
—Jacob Ware, TIME, 15 July 2024
In the 1960s, whole blocks of Hartford deemed as blighted, were razed to build Constitution Plaza.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 14 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for blight
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 27 Jul. 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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