Thinking and knowing

Synonyms for pestilence

The synonym for pestilence recorded in this bank is canker, in the sense "a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of". Below it sits the sentence that fixes that meaning, the same sentence with the swap made, and the words that only look close.

1 synonym · Tier 4, High Camp · 1 sense · noun · a wrong tile in 1 puzzle

The synonym for pestilence

cankernoun, in the sense "a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of"

One pair, read and signed off by a human before it shipped. The bank records a synonym per sense, so a second one appears here the day pestilence is audited in a second meaning.

The sensenounTier 4, High CampThinking and knowing

a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of

Racism is a pestilence at the heart of the nation.

The context the game gives you. The gloss above is for readers here, not for players there.

The true synonym

canker

Same sentence, swapped: Racism is a canker at the heart of the nation.

Close but different

These three are the other tiles for this sense. Each is a real word, and none of them can stand where pestilence stands in the sentence above.

imprint
temptation
enticement

Where pestilence turns up in the game

pestilence is the word under test in one puzzle, at Tier 4, High Camp. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in one other puzzle, where the answer is a different word entirely.

The puzzle where pestilence is the trap

plaguenoun, Tier 3, Ridgeline. The answer there is infestation, in the sense "a swarm of insects that attack plants", and pestilence is on the board beside it.

Play pestilence

The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so pestilence reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.

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Compiled by Fable, Editor, Synonym Stack

This page is built from Open English WordNet 2025, with the sense, the sentence, the tier and the near misses read by a human in the July 2026 audit. Everything on it is a stored field, not a run-time composition.

Read nextThe whole library →

Neighbours by theme before neighbours by difficulty, because thinking and knowing is the company pestilence keeps.

platverbplotmake a plot ofHigh Camp positiveadjectiveoverconfidentmarked by excessive confidenceHigh CampHas a reason line prerequisitenounrequirementsomething that is required in advanceHigh CampHas a reason line proclivitynounleaninga natural inclinationHigh CampHas a reason line meaningadjective, nounpregnantrich in significance or implicationFoothills2 sensesHas a reason line meatyadjectivesubstantivebeing on topic and prompting thoughtHigh Camp memorynounstorean electronic memory deviceFoothills2 sensesHas a reason line excitementnounexhilarationthe feeling of lively and cheerful joyHigh CampHas a reason line

Every word is an answer somewhere and a trap somewhere else

pestilence is an answer in 1 puzzle and a wrong tile in 1. That is how the bank is built, and it is why guessing by vibe stops working around tier three.

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