Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PEST'I-LENT, a. [L. pestilens, from pestis, plague.]

1. Producing the plague, or other malignant, contagious disease; noxious to health and life; as, a pestilent air or climate. – Bacon.
2. Mischievous; noxious to morals or society, destructive; in a general sense; as, pestilent books.
3. Troublesome; mischievous; making disturbance; corrupt; as, a pestilent fellow. – Acts xxiv.