blight

C2 Topic:Places & Geography

US /ˈblaɪt/ UK /blaɪt/ See IPA manual

Freq #26795

Meanings

1

noun
Something that spoils or damages a situation, place, or life.

Poverty was a blight on the whole neighbourhood for years.
2

verb
To spoil or ruin something, or hold back its growth.

Those tattoos could blight her chances of getting the job.
3

noun
A plant disease, often caused by a fungus, that quickly kills leaves and stems.

Potato blight destroyed nearly the entire crop that year.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · something that spoils or... bane

2 verb · to spoil or ruin something,... spoil ruin damage

Word family

Forms blightedblightingblightinglyblightsunblighted

Derived forms blight-beetleblightedblightenblighterblightingblightinglyblightscapeblightyunblight

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

chestnut blight
a disease that damages or kills chestnut trees

Noun + noun

Tongue twisters (1)

See all

The Bleak Breeze
The bleak breeze blighted the bright broom blossoms.

Alternate /bl/ in bleak, blighted and blossoms with /bɹ/ in breeze, bright and broom. Start with the pairs bleak breeze and bright broom.

Etymology

The etymology of the noun is uncertain; suggested derivations include the following: * possibly related to Middle English blichening (“mildew or rust on grain, blight”), possibly related to Middle English bliken (“to gleam, shine; to turn pale”), from Old English blīcan (“to shine, sparkle”) (whence modern English blike (“(obsolete) to gleam, shine”); also compare Old Norse blikna (“to grow pallid”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blīkan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”); or * since sense 2.2 refers to a diseased conditio…

*bʰleyǵ- Proto-Indo-European *bleighte Middle English blǣcþa Old English *blaik Proto-West Germanic *blaikaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Places & Geography

External links

# blight

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈblaɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /blaɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 26795

## Meanings
1. Something that spoils or damages a situation, place, or life.
2. To spoil or ruin something, or hold back its growth.
3. A plant disease, often caused by a fungus, that quickly kills leaves and stems.

## Examples
- Poverty was a blight on the whole neighbourhood for years.
- Those tattoos could blight her chances of getting the job.
- Potato blight destroyed nearly the entire crop that year.

## Derived Forms
- blight-beetle
- blighted
- blighten
- blighter
- blighting
- blightingly
- blightscape
- blighty
- unblight

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *bʰleyǵ-
- Root: *bleighte
- Root: blǣcþa
- Root: *blaik
- Root: *blaikaz

## Etymology
The etymology of the noun is uncertain; suggested derivations include the following: * possibly related to Middle English blichening (“mildew or rust on grain, blight”), possibly related to Middle English bliken (“to gleam, shine; to turn pale”), from Old English blīcan (“to shine, sparkle”) (whence modern English blike (“(obsolete) to gleam, shine”); also compare Old Norse blikna (“to grow pallid”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blīkan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”); or * since sense 2.2 refers to a diseased conditio…

## AI Etymology
Blight is traced through the etymology of the noun is uncertain; suggested derivations include the following:. possibly related to Middle English blichening (“mildew or rust on grain, blight”), possibly related to Middle English bliken (“to gleam, shine; to turn pale”), from Old English blīcan (“to shine, sparkle”) (whence modern English blike (“(obsolete) to gleam, shine”); also compare Old Norse blikna (“to grow pallid”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blīkan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”); or. In present-day use, it can mean something that spoils or damages a situation, place, or life, or to spoil or ruin something, or hold back its growth. Derived formations include blight-beetle, blighted, blighten, blighter, and blighting.

## Topics
- Places & Geography

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