PEST: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for PEST? (2024)

November 16, 2020

Pest as a Noun

Definitions of "Pest" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “pest” as a noun can have the following definitions:

A destructive insect or other animal that attacks crops, food, livestock, etc.
A persistently annoying person.
A serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal.
An annoying person or thing; a nuisance.
Bubonic plague.
Any epidemic disease with a high death rate.
Any unwanted and destructive insect or other animal that attacks food or crops or livestock etc.

Synonyms of "Pest" as a noun (24 Words)

annoyance	Something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness. There was annoyance* at government interference.*
blighter	A persistently annoying person. You little blighter.
bore	A person who evokes boredom. He shot a guard in the leg with a twelve bore.
bother	Effort, trouble, or difficulty. A spot of bother.
curse	An offensive word or phrase used to express anger or annoyance. At every blow there was a curse.
cuss	An annoying or stubborn person or animal. He was certainly an unsociable cuss.
gadfly	Any of various large flies that annoy livestock. Always a gadfly* he attacked intellectual orthodoxies.*
inconvenience	The state or fact of being troublesome or difficult with regard to one’s personal requirements or comfort. The inconveniences of life in a remote city.
irritant	A thing that is continually annoying or distracting. In 1966 Vietnam was becoming an irritant* to the government.*
irritation	The stimulation of an organism, cell, or organ to produce an active response. The minor irritations of life.
menace	A person or thing that is likely to cause harm; a threat or danger. A new initiative aimed at beating the menace* of drugs.*
nuisance	(law) a broad legal concept including anything that disturbs the reasonable use of your property or endangers life and health or is offensive. It s a nuisance* having all those people clomping through the house.*
pesterer	A persistently annoying person.
pestilence	A serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal. Racism is a pestilence* at the heart of the nation.*
pestis	A serious sometimes fatal infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal.
plague	A contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium typically with the formation of buboes bubonic plague and sometimes infection of the lungs pneumonic plague. A plague* of grasshoppers.*
problem	A state of difficulty that needs to be resolved. The problem* of ageism in Hollywood.*
the bane of one's life	Something causing misery or death.
thorn in one's flesh	Something that causes irritation and annoyance.
thorn in one's side	A small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf.
trial	(sports) a preliminary competition to determine qualifications. The editor was summoned to stand trial* for libel.*
trouble	The malfunction of something such as a machine or a part of the body. He won without any trouble.
vexation	Something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness. Jenna bit her lip in vexation.
worry	A source of anxiety. He s demented with worry.

Usage Examples of "Pest" as a noun

He sprayed the garden to get rid of pests.
Pest control.
The tomato plant attracts a pest called whitefly.
An effective method for controlling insect pests.
Many pests have developed resistance to the common pesticides.
He was a real pest.

Associations of "Pest" (30 Words)

ant	A small insect typically having a sting and living in a complex social colony with one or more breeding queens. It is wingless except for fertile adults, which form large mating swarms, and is proverbial for its industriousness.
aphid	Any of various small plant-sucking insects.
arachnid	Relating to or denoting arachnids.
bee	An insect of a large group to which the honeybee belongs including many solitary as well as social kinds. A sewing bee.
bug	Conceal a miniature microphone in (a room or device) in order to listen to or record someone’s conversations secretly. They caught the sailing bug.
butterfly	Flutter like a butterfly. A butterfly* clip.*
caterpillar	A vehicle with caterpillar tracks.
*cockroach**	A scavenging insect that resembles a beetle, having long antennae and legs and typically a broad, flattened body. Several tropical kinds have become established worldwide as household pests.
dragonfly	Slender-bodied non-stinging insect having iridescent wings that are outspread at rest; adults and nymphs feed on mosquitoes etc.
earthworm	Terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil; often surfaces when the ground is cool or wet; used as bait by anglers.
exterminator	A person whose job is to eradicate pests from a building or area; a pest controller. He became an exterminator* of pumas tracking them down in dark caverns.*
flea	Any wingless bloodsucking parasitic insect noted for ability to leap.
gadfly	A fly that bites livestock, especially a horsefly, warble fly, or botfly. Always a gadfly* he attacked intellectual orthodoxies.*
grasshopper	A plant-eating insect with long hind legs which are used for jumping and for producing a chirping sound, frequenting grassy places and low vegetation.
hornet	Large stinging paper wasp.
housefly	A common small fly occurring worldwide in and around human habitation. Its eggs are laid in decaying material, and the fly can be a health hazard due to its contamination of food.
insect	A small arthropod animal that has six legs and generally one or two pairs of wings. Insect pests.
insectivorous	(of a plant such as the sundew) able to capture and digest insects.
louse	A person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect.
mite	Any of numerous very small to minute arachnids often infesting animals or plants or stored foods.
mosquito	Two-winged insect whose female has a long proboscis to pierce the skin and suck the blood of humans and animals.
moth	A clothes moth. I store my sweaters in plastic bags to protect them from moths.
nit	A luminance unit equal to 1 candle per square meter measured perpendicular to the rays from the source. You stupid nit.
pesticide	A chemical used to kill pests (as rodents or insects.
plague	A contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium typically with the formation of buboes bubonic plague and sometimes infection of the lungs pneumonic plague. He has been plagued by ill health.
scorpion	Used in names of arachnids and insects resembling a scorpion e g false scorpion water scorpion.
spider	Move in a scuttling manner suggestive of a spider. A treecreeper spidered head first down the tree trunk.
tarantula	A large black wolf spider of southern Europe, whose bite was formerly believed to cause tarantism.
termite	A small, pale soft-bodied insect that lives in large colonies with several different castes, typically within a mound of cemented earth. Many kinds feed on wood and can be highly destructive to trees and timber.
worm	Used in names of other animals that resemble worms in some way e g slow worm shipworm. Worms take advantage of automatic file sending and receiving features found on many computers.