What does "infestation" mean?

The presence of a large number of pest organisms in an area or field, on the surface of a host or anything that might contact a host, or in the soil.

What is a synonym for "infestation"?

Common synonyms include: blight, infestment, invasion, overrunning, placid, plague.

Pronounced //ɪnfɛsˈteɪʃən//.

//ɪnfɛsˈteɪʃən// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The presence of a large number of pest organisms in an area or field, on the surface of a host or anything that might contact a host, or in the soil. countable, uncountable
"Guatemalan snowpea production has continually been harmed by insect and disease infestations."
2
a swarm of insects that attack plants wordnet
3
the state of being invaded or overrun by parasites wordnet

"Tom's home has a kobold infestation."

From Middle French infestation, from Late Latin infestatio. Morphologically infest + -ation.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.