blight

Universal Words verb, noun verb [VN] to spoil or damage sth, especially by causing a lot of problems: His career has been blighted by injuries. * an area blighted by unemployment noun 1 [U,C] any disease that kills plants, especially crops: potato blight * Many areas have been devastated by blights which destroyed cereal crops and vines. 2 [sing.,U] ~ (on sb/sth) something that has a bad effect on a situation, a person's life or the environment: His death cast a blight on the whole of that year. * urban blight (= ugly or neglected areas in a city) * Her divorce was a great blight on her life.