Pustular is a medical adjective for skin conditions characterized by pustules, raised lesions containing pus that may result from infection, inflammation, or diseases such as smallpox. In poetry, it is often chosen for its visceral force rather than for diagnostic exactness. A pustular face, field, or city can suggest a surface broken by corruption, violence, or contagion. The word makes illness visible and difficult to ignore, turning hidden infection into an erupting image. It is especially effective in grotesque, plague, and antiwar verse, where damaged surfaces reveal deeper social or moral wounds.

"Pustular" describes skin marked by pustules—small, inflamed, pus-filled blisters. In poetic imagery, particularly in satirical, gothic, or war poetry, pustular descriptions create visceral revulsion and emphasize physical corruption, disease, or moral decay. For instance, in anti-war poetry, pustular imagery strips away romantic notions of military glory by exposing the raw, grotesque realities of bodily trauma in the trenches. Students can examine how such unpleasant, tactile imagery evokes immediate physical reactions from the reader. Related terms include suppurating, ulcerous, eruptive, and blistered.