Synonyms for pest
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Plague
plague, nuisance, pestilence, disease, blight, scourge, pain, annoyance, bane, curse, pestis, infliction, thorn, affliction, torment
Other
bug informal, pesterment
Definitions
- n. 1
Any destructive insect that attacks crops or livestock; an agricultural pest.
- n. 2
An annoying person, a nuisance.
Related words
- Word family
- pest-free pester pestiferous pestilence pestilent pestilential
- Phrases
- nagana pest pest control
Forms
- Plural
- pests → plagues, nuisances, pestilences, diseases…
Example sentences
- disease Eating healthfully can help prevent heart disease.
- plague Their first daughter died from the plague in 1576.
- nuisance If you only knew how much of a nuisance you are!
- pestilence Tom doesn't know the difference between pastry and pestilence.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| pest | falling | |
| disease | steady | |
| plague | rising | |
| nuisance | falling | |
| pestilence | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bug1
- 4 letters
- pain1, bane1, cuss1
- 5 letters
- curse1, thorn1
- 6 letters
- plague1, blight1, gadfly2, pestis
- 7 letters
- disease2, torment2, scourge1
- 8 letters
- nuisance2, blighter
- 9 letters
- annoyance3
- 10 letters
- affliction3, pestilence3, infliction3, pesterment
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (gadfly2 = 2 syllables).