verminous

[ vur-muh-nuhs ]

adjective

1. of the nature of or resembling vermin.
2. of, relating to, or caused by vermin:

   verminous diseases.

3. infested with vermin, especially parasitic vermin:

   verminous shacks.

ˈverminous

/ ˈvɜːmɪnəs /

adjective

1. relating to, infested with, or suggestive of vermin

Derived Forms

• ˈverminously, adverb
• ˈverminousness, noun

Other Words From

• vermin·ous·ly adverb
• vermin·ous·ness noun
• non·vermin·ous adjective
• non·vermin·ous·ly adverb
• non·vermin·ous·ness noun
• un·vermin·ous adjective
• un·vermin·ous·ly adverb
• un·vermin·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of verminous¹

1610–20; < Latin verminōsus infested with maggots; verminate, -ous

Example Sentences

Over the years, translators have had Gregor Samsa transform into "a monstrous cockroach," "an enormous bedbug," and "a large verminous insect," among other things.

From Salon

Noticeably marked by their ethnically coded “street” accents, the hyenas blatantly symbolize racist and anti-Semitic stereotypes of “verminous” groups that form a threat to society.

From Washington Post

In the nineteen-nineties, when he was the editor of the Spectator magazine, it published a poem that referred to Scots as a “verminous race” of “tartan dwarves” who should be wiped out.

From The New Yorker

Men, women and children languished there in conditions of almost unimaginable squalor, brutality, overcrowding, starvation, verminous infestation and neglect.

From New York Times

Meanwhile the verminous UK government will be carrying on their racist immigration policies, and doing their best to deport Caribbean immigrants who have spent more than 50 years legally in UK.

From New York Times

Related Words

• disheveled
• grimy
• grubby
• grungy
• muddy
• nasty
• soiled
• squalid