A British informal term for a person who is annoying, contemptible, or mischievous; a troublemaker.
From the verb 'blight' (to ruin or damage), with the agent suffix '-er' added to create an insulting term. It became particularly common in British military slang during the 20th century, often used affectionately or dismissively. The term reflects British humor's love of creative insults.
British soldiers in World War I used 'blighter' constantly—it's fascinating because the same word could be hurled at an enemy, a lazy officer, or your best mate, depending on tone; language evolving in the trenches created slang that survived to modern times.
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