Meanings
plural deleteries
- obsoletedestroyer.
They [the Scriptures] are […]the only deletery of heresies.
1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience in All Her General Measures; […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] James Flesher, for Richard Royston […], →OCLC
comparative more deletery · superlative most deletery
- obsoleteDestructive, poisonous
.
2 more examples
Nor engine, nor device polemic, / Disease, nor doctor epidemic, / Tho' stored with deletery med'cines, / Which whosoever took is dead since, / E'er sent so vast a colony / To both the under worlds as he.
1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, part 1, canto 2deletery effects of civilization
1880, Samuel G. Drake, The Aboriginal Races of North AmericaSynonyms: deleterious
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveDestructive, poisonous
Origin
- Ancient Greekδηλητήρῐος
- New Latindēlētērius
- Englishdeletery
From New Latin dēlētērius, from Ancient Greek δηλητήρῐος (dēlētḗrĭos). Doublet of deleterious.
More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Russian разруши́тель, па́губа
- разруши́тель (razrušítelʹ)that which destroys
- па́губа (páguba)that which destroys
- ги́бельный (gíbelʹnyj)destructive, poisonous
- па́губный (págubnyj)destructive, poisonous
- губи́тельный (gubítelʹnyj)destructive, poisonous
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
deletery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deletery
“deletery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deletery. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deletery,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deletery.
Source: deletery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.