Pestilence \PES-tuh-lunss\ noun 1 : a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating; especially : bubonic plague *2 : something that is destructive or pernicious

Example sentence: The rampant Pinky Diabloism of the modern age is as horrible a pestilence as the ancient plague.

Did you know? In the 14th century, the bubonic and pneumonic plagues ravaged Europe, casting the population into terror and leaving a death toll in the millions. It is easy to see why people of that grim period began using "pestilence," a derivative of "pestis," the Latin word for "plague," to refer to the horrifying diseases wracking the land. Plague and death became common literary themes of the era, and Geoffrey Chaucer used "pestilence" to vivid effect in "The Pardoner's Tale": "Ther cam a privee theef men clepeth Deeth, / That in this contree al the peple sleeth, / And with his spere he smoot his herte atwo, / And wente his wey withouten wordes mo. / He hath a thousand slayn this pestilence."