Meanings
plural superbugs
- informalA strain of bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics (e.g., MDR, XDR).
But now we’re seeing increasing numbers of superbugs that survive antibiotics. One of the best-known [is] MRSA, a kind of staph infection [that] kills about 18,000 Americans annually. That’s more than die of AIDS.
2010 March 7, Nicholas Kristof, “The Spread of Superbugs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN - informalAny pathogen resistant to many, even all, of the biocides or other agents used to treat similar pathogens.
- USAn invasive insect, Bemisia tabaci, that is a major pest of vegetable crops, both directly and as a virus vector.
Synonyms: silverleaf whitefly
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn invasive insect, Bemisia tabaci, that is a major pest of vegetable crops, both directly and as a virus vector.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna strain of pest accidentally imported into Florida from the Middle East then spread to California where it is a very serious pest feeding on almost all vegetable crops and poinsettias
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*úp
- Proto-Indo-European*upér
- Proto-Italic*super
- Latinsuper
- Latinsuper-
- Englishsuper-
- Englishbug
- Englishsuperbug
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 超級細菌 /超级细菌
- 超級細菌 /超级细菌 (chāojí xìjūn)a strain of bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics
French superbactérie
- superbactériea strain of bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics
German Killerkeime, Super-Erreger
- Killerkeimea strain of bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics
- Super-Erregera strain of bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics
Greek υπερβακτήριο
- υπερβακτήριο (ypervaktírio)a strain of bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics
Italian superbatterio
- superbatterioa strain of bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics
Spanish superbacteria
- superbacteriaa strain of bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics
Cite this entry
superbug. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superbug
“superbug.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superbug. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “superbug,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superbug.
Source: superbug on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.