virulent

3 definitions found

virulent - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Virulent \Vir"u*lent\, a. [L. virulentus, fr. virus poison: cf.
     F. virulent. See Virus.]
     1. Extremely poisonous or venomous; very active in doing
        injury.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A contagious disorder rendered more virulent by
              uncleanness.                          --Sir W.
                                                    Scott.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Very bitter in enmity; actuated by a desire to injure;
        malignant; as, a virulent invective.
        [1913 Webster]

virulent - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  virulent
      adj 1: extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom;
             "venomous snakes"; "a virulent insect bite" [syn:
             deadly, venomous, virulent]
      2: infectious; having the ability to cause disease [ant:
         avirulent]
      3: harsh or corrosive in tone; "an acerbic tone piercing
         otherwise flowery prose"; "a barrage of acid comments"; "her
         acrid remarks make her many enemies"; "bitter words";
         "blistering criticism"; "caustic jokes about political
         assassination, talk-show hosts and medical ethics"; "a
         sulfurous denunciation"; "a vitriolic critique" [syn:
         acerb, acerbic, acid, acrid, bitter, blistering,
         caustic, sulfurous, sulphurous, virulent,
         vitriolic]

virulent - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  149 Moby Thesaurus words for "virulent":
     acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acid, acidic, acidulent, acidulous,
     acrid, acrimonious, acute, antagonistic, antipathetic, astringent,
     baleful, baneful, belligerent, biting, bitter, brutal, burning,
     catching, caustic, choleric, clashing, colliding, communicable,
     conflicting, contagious, corroding, corrosive, corrupting,
     corruptive, counterproductive, cutting, damaging, dangerous,
     deadly, death-bringing, deathful, deathly, deleterious, despiteful,
     destructive, detrimental, disadvantageous, disserviceable,
     distressing, double-edged, drastic, edged, embittered, envenomed,
     escharotic, excessive, exorbitant, extravagant, extreme, fatal,
     feral, fierce, full of hate, furious, great, harmful, harsh,
     hateful, hostile, hurtful, immoderate, incisive, infectious,
     infective, injurious, intemperate, intense, internecine, keen,
     killing, lethal, malefic, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant,
     mephitic, miasmal, miasmatic, miasmic, mischievous, mordacious,
     mordant, mortal, nasty, noisome, noxious, ominous, outrageous,
     penetrating, pernicious, pestiferous, pestilential, piercing,
     poignant, poison, poisonous, prejudicial, quarrelsome, rancorous,
     rankled, repugnant, resentful, resenting, rigorous, rough,
     sarcastic, savage, scatheful, scathing, septic, set against,
     severe, sharp, sore, spiteful, splenetic, splitting, stabbing,
     stewing, stinging, strident, stringent, tart, tough, toxic,
     toxicant, toxiferous, trenchant, unconscionable, unfriendly,
     unhealthy, unwholesome, vehement, venenate, veneniferous, venenous,
     venomous, vicious, violent, vitriolic