Miasma
noun
A dirty or unpleasant smell.
The miasma from the garbage dump traveled across the city.
Often appears as...
- a miasma of
- in a miasma
noun
An unpleasant atmosphere which is caused by something.
A miasma of scandal surrounded the politician's campaign.
Often appears as...
- a miasma of
- in the miasma of
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
Bad influences on morals, behaviors or attitudes.
The school was in a miasma of deceit and cheating.
Often appears as...
- a miasma of
- in a miasma
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
An outdated belief that diseases are caused by dirty air.
According to the miasma theory, cholera spread through foul air in unsanitary conditions.
Often appears as...
- theory of miasma
- belief in miasma
Usage tips
Historical
noun
A dirty or unpleasant smell.
The miasma from the garbage dump traveled across the city.
Often appears as...
- a miasma of
- in a miasma
noun
An unpleasant atmosphere which is caused by something.
A miasma of scandal surrounded the politician's campaign.
Often appears as...
- a miasma of
- in the miasma of
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
Bad influences on morals, behaviors or attitudes.
The school was in a miasma of deceit and cheating.
Often appears as...
- a miasma of
- in a miasma
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
An outdated belief that diseases are caused by dirty air.
According to the miasma theory, cholera spread through foul air in unsanitary conditions.
Often appears as...
- theory of miasma
- belief in miasma
Usage tips
Historical
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/3Negative Connotation
Miasma often suggests harmful or oppressive qualities of the unpleasant smell.
The entire alley was engulfed in a miasma that turned stomachs.
Pro Tip 2/3Intensity of Smell
It usually refers to strong, pervasive smells, not mild or fleeting ones.
As we entered the abandoned house, a miasma of mold hit us.
Pro Tip 3/3Evokes Visual Imagery
Although about smell, it can suggest a visible, fog-like presence.
A miasma hung over the landfill, visible from a distance.
Pro Tip 1/3Negative Connotation
Miasma often suggests harmful or oppressive qualities of the unpleasant smell.
The entire alley was engulfed in a miasma that turned stomachs.
Pro Tip 2/3Intensity of Smell
It usually refers to strong, pervasive smells, not mild or fleeting ones.
As we entered the abandoned house, a miasma of mold hit us.
Pro Tip 3/3Evokes Visual Imagery
Although about smell, it can suggest a visible, fog-like presence.
A miasma hung over the landfill, visible from a distance.
Pro Tip 1/3Negative Connotation
Miasma often suggests harmful or oppressive qualities of the unpleasant smell.
The entire alley was engulfed in a miasma that turned stomachs.
Pro Tip 2/3Intensity of Smell
It usually refers to strong, pervasive smells, not mild or fleeting ones.
As we entered the abandoned house, a miasma of mold hit us.
Pro Tip 3/3Evokes Visual Imagery
Although about smell, it can suggest a visible, fog-like presence.
A miasma hung over the landfill, visible from a distance.
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Video examples
Advocating for gender...
real possibility that under michelle bachelet united nations will finally and seriously address the myriad of women's issues that have been allowed to dissolve in a miasma of passivity and indifference issues that so compromised the lives women lead whether it's female
Video examples
How a few scientists...
You'd probably think that absurd, and, don't worry, it's completely wrong. Yet that's actually what people thought caused diseases for several centuries. They called it miasma theory, and everyone from the public to the medical establishment accepted it.
Video examples
Sonia Shah: 3 reasons we...
not bad air or miasmas, as was previously thought. So malaria should be a relatively simple disease to solve, and yet to this day, hundreds of thousands of people are going to die from the bite of a mosquito. Why is that? This is a question that's
Video examples
Advocating for gender...
real possibility that under michelle bachelet united nations will finally and seriously address the myriad of women's issues that have been allowed to dissolve in a miasma of passivity and indifference issues that so compromised the lives women lead whether it's female
Video examples
How a few scientists...
You'd probably think that absurd, and, don't worry, it's completely wrong. Yet that's actually what people thought caused diseases for several centuries. They called it miasma theory, and everyone from the public to the medical establishment accepted it.
Video examples
Sonia Shah: 3 reasons we...
not bad air or miasmas, as was previously thought. So malaria should be a relatively simple disease to solve, and yet to this day, hundreds of thousands of people are going to die from the bite of a mosquito. Why is that? This is a question that's
Example 1 of 3
Quote examples
Katherine Dunn
American Novelist
An intimate core of my being recognizes that there is nothing in me that can go on: there is no spark; there is no infestation of vaporous miasma that has the capacity to continue, and there is nothing in me that wishes to continue. This moment is, for me, all that there is, and I'm willing to accept it. I'm a worm; I have no soul.
Quote examples
Justin Cartwright
British Novelist
The Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford is an astonishing building, designed by Christopher Wren. Its painted ceiling has just been restored so that the darkish miasma that was Robert Streeter's original allegory of truth and light striking the university is now bright with playful cherubs and lustrous clouds.
Quote examples
Will Self
English Author
The main differences between contemporary English and American literature is that the baleful pseudo-professionalism imparted by all those crap M.F.A. writing programs has yet to settle like a miasma of standardization on the English literary scene. But it's beginning to happen.
Quote examples
Alice Walker
American Author
Human beings may well be unable to break free of the dictatorship of greed that spreads like a miasma over the world, but no longer will we be an inarticulate and ignorant humanity, confused by our enslavement to superior cruelty and weaponry.
Quote examples
David Puttnam
British Producer
There's always a miasma of misinformation emerging from the higher education sector as to which are the 'best' courses to take. My advice would always be to ignore the perceived wisdom and look for the most reliable evidence on the ground.
Quote examples
Stacey Abrams
American Politician
The miasma of fear that is created through voter suppression is as much about terrifying people about trying to vote as it is about actually blocking their ability to do so.
Quote examples
Timothy Morton
English Philosopher
Pollution is everywhere, in that ancient Greek sense of miasma: guilt experienced as abject body fluid, moral pollution defining what kinds of beings count in social space.
Quote examples
George Steiner
American Critic
To many men... the miasma of peace seems more suffocating than the bracing air of war.
Quote examples
Katherine Dunn
American Novelist
An intimate core of my being recognizes that there is nothing in me that can go on: there is no spark; there is no infestation of vaporous miasma that has the capacity to continue, and there is nothing in me that wishes to continue. This moment is, for me, all that there is, and I'm willing to accept it. I'm a worm; I have no soul.
Quote examples
Justin Cartwright
British Novelist
The Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford is an astonishing building, designed by Christopher Wren. Its painted ceiling has just been restored so that the darkish miasma that was Robert Streeter's original allegory of truth and light striking the university is now bright with playful cherubs and lustrous clouds.
Quote examples
Will Self
English Author
The main differences between contemporary English and American literature is that the baleful pseudo-professionalism imparted by all those crap M.F.A. writing programs has yet to settle like a miasma of standardization on the English literary scene. But it's beginning to happen.
Quote examples
Alice Walker
American Author
Human beings may well be unable to break free of the dictatorship of greed that spreads like a miasma over the world, but no longer will we be an inarticulate and ignorant humanity, confused by our enslavement to superior cruelty and weaponry.
Quote examples
David Puttnam
British Producer
There's always a miasma of misinformation emerging from the higher education sector as to which are the 'best' courses to take. My advice would always be to ignore the perceived wisdom and look for the most reliable evidence on the ground.
Quote examples
Stacey Abrams
American Politician
The miasma of fear that is created through voter suppression is as much about terrifying people about trying to vote as it is about actually blocking their ability to do so.
Quote examples
Timothy Morton
English Philosopher
Pollution is everywhere, in that ancient Greek sense of miasma: guilt experienced as abject body fluid, moral pollution defining what kinds of beings count in social space.
Quote examples
George Steiner
American Critic
To many men... the miasma of peace seems more suffocating than the bracing air of war.
Example 1 of 8
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