Vocabulary in context
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Blight
A disease or anything that causes decay, ruin, or injury; especially a plant disease that damages crops.
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Imagine This
Here's a make-believe story. Once there was a widespread disease that caused many deaths on this planet. One day, God saw that people had suffered enough and he said 'Let there be light!', and gradually the disease left and the world slowly returned to normal.
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Sounds Like
BLYTE
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Looks Like
bright
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Remember This
In agriculture, blight refers to a plant disease that can quickly destroy crops. A famous historical example is the potato blight that contributed to the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s.
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Other Forms
blightsverb
blightingverb
blightedadjective
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Connect With
plague, decay, ruin, pestilence, disease, blighted
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Note
Do not confuse blight with blithe (carefree). Blight is a force that spoils or damages; blithe denotes cheerfulness. As a verb, 'to blight' means to spoil or ruin something.
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Study Deeper
Examples
- The potato blight devastated crops across Europe in the 1840s.
- A fungal blight blighted the leaves, causing them to turn brown and die.
Synonyms
plaguepestilencedecayruinscourge
Antonyms
healthvigorgrowth
Etymology
From Middle English blight, of uncertain origin; early senses referred to disease or spoil. The exact source is not clearly documented, but it has long been associated with plant disease and spoilage.
Mnemonic
Mnemonic: Put a B in front of LIGHT to form BLIGHT. Think of B-LIGHT as a way to remember that blight is something that spoils or ruins what would otherwise be light or life.
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Similar Words
Related words and words with the same part of speech.
Abasement
nounThe act or instance of humiliating or degrading someone; the state of being lowered in dignity or status.
Absurdity
nounThe quality or state of being wildly unreasonable, illogical, or ridiculous; something that is completely contrary to reason or common sense.
Accent
nounA distinctive way of pronouncing words; the act of emphasizing a syllable or word (as a verb, to accent means to emphasize).
Accolade
nounAn honor; a public expression of praise or an award.
Acrimony
nounBitterness of speech or manner; ill feeling
Acronym
nounA word formed from the initial letters of a phrase, pronounced as a single word and used as a shorthand for the full name (for example, NASA or radar).
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