blighted

Blighted is an adjective used to describe something that has been afflicted by blight. Blight refers to a plant disease that causes rapid browning, withering, and death of plant tissues, and it can also describe urban or environmental decay. In botany and agriculture, blight is typically caused by pathogens such as fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, or viruses. Well-known examples include potato late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans and other crop diseases that can devastate harvests. The term blight can be applied to crops, trees, or other vegetation that shows symptoms like lesions, cankers, or necrosis, and is sometimes used more broadly to indicate poor health or decline in a plant or crop system.

In urban planning and sociology, blighted describes areas suffering from economic decline, high vacancy, vandalism, arson, and neglect. Urban blight is often associated with factors such as disinvestment, population loss, and insufficient maintenance or public services. Efforts to combat blight typically involve housing rehabilitation, code enforcement, infrastructure investment, and economic development programs. The word may also appear in metaphorical usage to describe anything perceived as morally or aesthetically degraded, for example, a 'blighted' reputation or dream.

Historically the concept of blight has included fatal plant diseases and cascading social consequences, leading to terms like 'blighted landscape' or 'blighted crops' in literature and policy discussions. The word carries a strong negative valence, but in technical contexts it serves to describe observable deterioration or disease without judgment.