pestilent
/ˈpɛstələnt/adjective
pestilent is spelled P-E-S-T-I-L-E-N-T: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, pestilent means “Highly injurious or destructive to life: deadly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in pestilent?
| Letters | 9: P-E-S-T-I-L-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 107,757th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is pestilent?
Pestilent appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pestilent?
- /ˈpɛstələnt/
- /ˈpɛstɪlənt/
- /ˈpɛstlənt/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pestilent.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pestilent
- more pestilent comparative
- most pestilent superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pestilent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Highly injurious or destructive to life: deadly.
- 2
informalAnnoying.
- 3
archaicHarmful to morals or public order.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does pestilent come from?
Middle English, from Latin pestilens, from Latin pestis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).