'Pestiferous' definitions:

Definition of 'pestiferous'

(from WordNet)
adjective
Contaminated with infecting organisms; "dirty wounds"; "obliged to go into infected rooms"- Jane Austen [syn: dirty, pestiferous]
adjective
Likely to spread and cause an epidemic disease; "a pestilential malignancy in the air"- Jonathan Swift; "plaguey fevers" [syn: pestilent, pestilential, pestiferous, plaguey]
adjective
Tending to corrupt or pervert [syn: corruptive, perversive, pestiferous]
adjective
Causing irritation or annoyance; "tapping an annoying rhythm on his glass with his fork"; "aircraft noise is particularly bothersome near the airport"; "found it galling to have to ask permission"; "an irritating delay"; "nettlesome paperwork"; "a pesky mosquito"; "swarms of pestering gnats"; "a plaguey newfangled safety catch"; "a teasing and persistent thought annoyed him"; "a vexatious child"; "it is vexing to have to admit you are wrong" [syn: annoying, bothersome, galling, irritating, nettlesome, pesky, pestering, pestiferous, plaguy, plaguey, teasing, vexatious, vexing]

Definition of 'Pestiferous'

From: GCIDE
  • Pestiferous \Pes*tif"er*ous\, a. [L. pestiferus, pestifer; pestis pest + ferre to bear: cf. F. pestif[`e]re.]
  • 1. Pest-bearing; pestilential; noxious to health; malignant; infectious; contagious; as, pestiferous bodies. "Poor, pestiferous creatures begging alms." --Evelyn. "Unwholesome and pestiferous occupations." --Burke. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Noxious to peace, to morals, or to society; vicious; hurtful; destructive; as, a pestiferous demagogue. [1913 Webster]
  • Pestiferous reports of men very nobly held. --Shak. [1913 Webster]