carbuncle
noun
car·bun·cle ˈkär-ˌbəŋ-kəl 
1
a
obsolete : any of several red precious stones
b
: the garnet cut cabochon
2
: a painful local purulent inflammation of the skin and deeper tissues with multiple openings for the discharge of pus and usually necrosis and sloughing of dead tissue
carbuncled
ˈkär-ˌbəŋ-kəld
adjective carbuncular
kär-ˈbəŋ-kyə-lər
adjective 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web But all that was knocked down half a century ago, to be replaced by a concrete carbuncle that destroyed the arch and chunks of nearby streets and has been making commuters miserable since 1968. 
The Economist, 8 Feb. 2020 This isn't Westeros; no one's out here massing troops on opposite sides of a meadow while the fat cats in the biggest tent play an oversized game of Risk and tend to their carbuncles. Peter Rubin, WIRED, 20 Aug. 2019 This pile of dough is a swollen carbuncle on the backside of our fiscal/economic donkey. Alaska Dispatch News, 29 June 2017 The EOS 650 was the first autofocus SLR that didn’t suck, or have a giant carbuncle on the side of the lens (Canon T80, anyone?) Charlie Sorrel, WIRED, 21 Dec. 2007
The Economist, 8 Feb. 2020 This isn't Westeros; no one's out here massing troops on opposite sides of a meadow while the fat cats in the biggest tent play an oversized game of Risk and tend to their carbuncles. Peter Rubin, WIRED, 20 Aug. 2019 This pile of dough is a swollen carbuncle on the backside of our fiscal/economic donkey. Alaska Dispatch News, 29 June 2017 The EOS 650 was the first autofocus SLR that didn’t suck, or have a giant carbuncle on the side of the lens (Canon T80, anyone?) Charlie Sorrel, WIRED, 21 Dec. 2007 Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French charbucle, carbuncule, from Latin carbunculus small coal, carbuncle, diminutive of carbon-, carbo charcoal, ember
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Medical Definition
carbuncle
noun
car·bun·cle ˈkär-ˌbəŋ-kəl
: a painful local purulent inflammation of the skin and deeper tissues with multiple openings for the discharge of pus and usually necrosis and sloughing of dead tissue
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