virulent

Meaning

1. Of animals, plants, or substances: extremely venomous or poisonous.
2. (figuratively) Extremely hostile or malicious; intensely acrimonious.
3. Of a disease or disease-causing agent: malignant, able to cause damage to the host.
4. Of a pathogen: replicating within its host cell, then immediately causing it to undergo lysis.

Opposite of

harmless, nonvirulent, benign

Synonyms

poisonous

venomous

bitter

vitriolic

toxic

malicious

sulphurous

acrid

blistering

acerbic

noxious

caustic

acerb

sulfurous

acid

malignant

deadly

spiteful

rancorous

venomed

sinister

toxicant

toxicity

venemous

vicious

viperine

virulence

veneficial

evil disposition

acute

aggressive

bad

👎

belligerent

black

dirty

hateful

hostile

intense

intoxicating

inveterate

irritating

malign

nasty

pestilent

powerful

resentful

severe

sharp

Translations

virulent

virulent

τοξικός

virulent

virulento

venimeux

giftig

scharf

giftig

bösartig

caustico

virulento

heftig

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈvɪɹ(j)ʊl(ə)nt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: virulent

In summary

PIE word
*wisós
From Middle English virulent (“leaking or seeping pus, purulent; (of putrefaction) extremely severe (sense uncertain)”) [and other forms], borrowed from Latin vīrulentus (“poisonous”), from vīrus (“poison; venom; slime, slimy liquid; stinking smell; nasty taste”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (“poison; slime; fluidity”)) + -ulentus (suffix meaning ‘abounding in, full of’, forming adjectives).
Sense 4 (“of a pathogen: replicating within its host cell, then immediately causing it to undergo lysis”) is derived from French virulent, which was first used in this sense by the French biologist François Jacob (1920–2013) and his co-authors in a 1953 article.