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Definition of blight in English:

blight

Pronunciation /blīt/ /blaɪt/

See synonyms for blight

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noun

  • 1A plant disease, typically one caused by fungi such as mildews, rusts, and smuts.

    ‘the vines suffered blight and disease’
    • ‘potato blight’
    disease, canker, infestation, fungus, mildew, mould, rot, decay
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  • 2A thing that spoils or damages something.

    ‘the vacant properties are a blight on the neighborhood’
    • ‘her remorse could be a blight on that happiness’
    affliction, scourge, bane, curse, plague, menace, evil, misfortune, woe, calamity, trouble, ordeal, thorn in one's flesh, thorn in one's side, trial, tribulation, visitation, nuisance, pest, pollution, contamination, cancer, canker
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    1. 2.1An ugly, neglected, or rundown condition of an urban area.
      • ‘the depressing urban blight that lies to the south of the city’

transitive verb

[with object]

  • 1Have a severely detrimental effect on.

    ‘the scandal blighted the careers of several leading politicians’
    • ‘the problems are most acutely felt in areas blighted by poverty’
    • ‘some people complain that wind farms blight the landscape’
    ruin, wreck, spoil, disrupt, undo, mar, play havoc with, make a mess of, put an end to, end, bring to an end, put a stop to, prevent, frustrate, crush, quell, quash, dash, destroy, scotch, shatter, devastate, demolish, sabotage
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  • 2Infect (plants) with blight.

    • ‘a peach tree blighted by leaf curl’
    infect, wither, shrivel, blast, mildew, nip in the bud, kill, destroy
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Origin

Mid 16th century (denoting inflammation of the skin): of unknown origin.