plague
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
playgIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpleɪɡ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
often used with thesometimes capitalized: the Plague
The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
pathology
Any epidemic disease with a high death rate
pathology
An epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but specifically by the above disease.
A widespread affliction, calamity, or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine retribution.
figurative
A grave nuisance, whatever greatly irritates.
A serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal
verb
transitive
To harass, pester or annoy someone persistently or incessantly.
transitive
To afflict with a disease or other calamity.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (often used with the, sometimes capitalized: the Plague) The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
Used this way, plague is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It turns up most in medicine or healthcare contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use plague
- “Those children are a damn plague.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A rapidly progressive and frequently fatal form of the plague that can spread through the air from person to person.
A spot on the skin characteristic of the plague.
A mild form of bubonic plague.
The epidemic form of bubonic plague experienced during the Middle Ages when it killed nearly half the people of western Europe.
The most common form of the plague in humans.
An acute infectious viral disease of cattle (usually fatal).
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- epidemicnoun
- infectedadjective
- quarantinenoun
- smallpoxnoun
- fevernoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.