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rotten

rotten

81 1.0
Gone bad and no longer good to eat or use
  • adjective
  • /ˈrɑːtən/
translation icon : podrido
  • Much of the wood veneer was rotten and crumbling, but he found enough purchase for his hands.
  • rotten food
  • rotten egg
  • rotten apple

They look good, but they just get rotten really, really quickly.

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Examples

  • After a week in the fridge, the leftovers had turned rotten and needed to be thrown away.

  • Inside, many of the wooden floors were rotten and full of worms.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Everything we touched had a rotten smell.

  • And like three days later the whole house smells like rotten fish and you have no idea why.

  • It's completely rotten and it's squishy and wet.

  • A couple of the crates were full of rotten ones, but they were eaten just the same.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The old fruit basket was filled with rotten apples that were inedible.

  • The fence post had become rotten due to years of exposure to rain and neglect.

Synonyms

bad
vsrotten
287 1.0

Spoiled and not safe to eat

denotes severe decay or damage that makes objects unusable rather than merely unsafe
rancid
vsrotten
20 4.5

A bad, sharp smell or taste from spoiled oil

applies more broadly to severe decay and unusability rather than specific bad tastes
putrid
vsrotten
12 7.0

Rotting and smelling very bad

signifies the same decay but focuses on unusability rather than smell
spoiled
vsrotten
1 1.8

Food that is no longer safe to eat because it has gone bad

applies more widely to many items rather than only food
rotted
vsrotten
1 3.0

Damaged by decay so it is no longer safe or useful

is the general adjective for that same damaged state
decayed
vsrotten
1 3.9

Something like wood, teeth, or food that is soft and broken because it has rotted

is the common general word for the same severely damaged state
putrid-smelling
vsrotten
1 8.2

A very bad smell like rotten food

names primarily the strong foul smell rather than total unusability from damage
tainted
vsrotten
4.5

Spoiled and unsafe because it has rot or something harmful

refers specifically to severe physical decay or damage making items unusable

Antonyms

1.0

Showing positive qualities that other people approve of

778 1.0

Recently made or gathered food that is not spoiled

Idioms

rotten to the core
  • Offensive
4 8.1

Completely dishonest and morally bad in every part

3 6.7

To give someone too much kindness and gifts so they expect special treatment

Compounds

rotten apple
  • Offensive
1 5.3

A person whose bad actions harm others in a group

rotten borough
  • Literature
9.9

A small English voting area in the past where one person controlled the few voters

rotten egg gas
  • Specialized
6.0

A dangerous gas that smells like rotten eggs

How Decayed

putrid
12 7.0
rotten
81 1.0
decayed
1 3.9
to decompose
  • Specialized
37 4.4

Surface Forms

rotten positive

Morphology

rotten = rot (transparent) = rot + en

The adjective 'rotten' is directly understandable as the state resulting from something that has rotted.

Etymology

Rotten comes from the old word rot, which means 'decay' or 'to go bad', plus the ending -en that makes it a description. So a rotten apple has 'decayed' and is no longer good.