virulent
VEER-yuh-luntadjMeaning extremely harmful or severe; also, bitterly hostile
Memory hook VIRUS-lent: a VIRUS at full strength. This flu spreads so fast and hits so hard that by Friday only one student is left in the classroom; it is virulent.
A virulent flu swept through the school, closing it for a week.
In context The critic’s review was virulent: instead of simply disliking the play, she attacked the actors, the director and even the audience for clapping.
Similar severe, deadly, venomous, vicious
Opposite mild, harmless, benign
From Latin virulentus, “full of poison,” from virus (poison, venom).