1
botany
a
: a disease or injury of plants marked by the formation of lesions, withering, and death of parts (such as leaves and tubers)
potato blight
b
: an organism (such as an insect or a fungus) that causes blight
2
: something that frustrates plans or hopes
the blight of poverty
an abandoned factory that was a blight on the neighborhood
3
: something that impairs or destroys
… censorship … has brought under its blight Ireland's greatest poets, dramatists, and scholars.—
Paul Blanshard
Paul Blanshard4
: a deteriorated condition
urban blight
blighted; blighting; blights
1
botany
: to affect (a plant) with a disease or injury marked by the formation of lesions, withering, and death of parts (such as leaves and tubers) : to affect with blight (see blight entry 1 sense 1)
The apple trees were blighted by fungus.
2
: to impair the quality or effect of
the condition that has blighted his son's life—Patricia Guthrie
Patricia Guthrie
botany
: to suffer from or become affected with blight
The potatoes blighted.
Synonyms
Examples of blight in a Sentence
Noun
the city's spreading urban blight
the expanding urban sprawl is a blight on the countryside
Verb
Builders blighted the land with malls and parking lots.
Recent Examples on the WebKatherine Owen, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2024
In June, the city pushed back to later this year a wide-ranging study session that will scrutinize the city’s blight woes.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 10 Aug. 2024
Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2024
In its day, Emmanuelle spawned a string of sequels, each reputedly worse than its predecessors, while star Sylvia Kristel became so immediately famous for taking off her clothes that the expectation blighted her entire career.
—Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for blight 
Noun
Other diseases that impact the cosmos from developing are stem canker, powdery mildew, and Botrytis blight.
—Katherine Owen, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2024
In June, the city pushed back to later this year a wide-ranging study session that will scrutinize the city’s blight woes.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 10 Aug. 2024
Verb
Yet injuries have seriously blighted his progress since that era, with a similarl lack of playing time forcing him to push for a loan move to Brighton last term on the watch of Flick's predecessor Xavi Hernandez.
—Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2024
In its day, Emmanuelle spawned a string of sequels, each reputedly worse than its predecessors, while star Sylvia Kristel became so immediately famous for taking off her clothes that the expectation blighted her entire career.
—Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for blight
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near blight
Cite this Entry
“Blight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blight. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
blight
1 of 2 noun1
a
: a disease of plants marked by withering and death of parts (as leaves)
b
: an organism that causes blight
2
a
: something that harms or destroys
b
: a damaged or worsened condition
urban blight
blight
2 of 2 verb1
: to affect with blight
2
: to damage or worsen the quality or condition of
slums and blighted areas
3
: to suffer from or become affected with blight
Medical Definition
blight
noun
Australian
: an inflammation of the eye in which the eyelids discharge a thick mucous substance that often seals them up for days and minute granular pustules develop inside the lid
called also sandy blight
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