Word
scourge
US/ˈskɝdʒ/
UK/skˈɜːdʒ/
Countable noun
Definition
n. something that causes a lot of trouble, pain, or suffering to many people. You often hear it used to describe things like war, disease, or poverty.
n. a person or thing that causes great trouble or suffering. Often used metaphorically to describe widespread social or biological afflictions.
Examples
“Vaccines helped the world get rid of the scourge of smallpox.”
“The government is struggling to find a long-term solution to the scourge of drug addiction in the city.”
“Historians often describe the Black Death as a devastating scourge that fundamentally altered the economic and social structures of medieval Europe.”
Examples
simple
“Vaccines helped the world get rid of the scourge of smallpox.”
contextual
“The government is struggling to find a long-term solution to the scourge of drug addiction in the city.”
complex
“Historians often describe the Black Death as a devastating scourge that fundamentally altered the economic and social structures of medieval Europe.”
Usage
Frequently appears in the phrase 'the scourge of', followed by a noun representing a social ill or disease.
Real-World Examples
“The parallels with online beauty filters and other scourges of modern teenage life are clear.” “A co-ordinated international naval response together with private security on commercial ships successfully drove down the scourge and contained a flare-up in 2023 and 2024.” Etymology
From Middle English scourge (“a lash, whip, scourge; affliction, calamity; person who causes affliction or calamity; shoot of a vine”), and then either: * from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge, escurge, or Old French scurge, escourge, escorge, escorgiee, escurge (modern French escourgée (“(archaic) whip made of leather strips”)), either: * from Vulgar Latin excoriāta (“strip of hide; a scourge”), from Late Latin excoriāre, the present active infinitive of excoriō (“to strip the skin from, to skin”), from Latin ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + corium (“skin; hide, leather”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”)); or * from Latin ex- (intensifying prefix) + corrigia (“a whip”) (from corrigō (“to make right, correct; to reform”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₃reǵ- (“to righten; to straighten”)); or * from Middle English scourgen (verb) (see etymology 2). Cognates Italian scuriada, scuriata
From Middle English scourgen (“to whip, scourge; to afflict; to punish”), and then either: * from scourge (noun) + -en (suffix forming infinitives of verbs); or * from Anglo-Norman escorger, and Old French escorgier (“to whip, to scourge”), which are either: ** from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge (noun), etc., or Old French scurge, escourge (noun), etc. + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs); or * from Vulgar Latin excorrigiō, from Latin ex- (intensifying prefix) + corrigia (“a whip”); or ** directly from Late Latin excoriāre. See further at etymology 1.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C1 AdvancedIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.7.0–8.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 5.0–5.595–113TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.945–990
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- C1 · Advanced
- Updated
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QR code
englishreference.com/q/scourge