Skip to main content
to putrefy

to putrefy

4 9.2
To rot and make a bad smell
  • verb
  • /ˈpjuːtrɪfaɪ/
translation icon : putrefactar
  • He had to get rid of the cadavers that were putrefying in the heat.
  • putrefying flesh
  • putrefying body
  • dead body putrefying

And he explains why eating meat is unholy and defiles the body and putrefies the gut and all this stuff.

Examples

  • Soon, black, semi-putrefied cadavers were discovered.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Scores of dead pigeons are starting to putrefy in the hot sun.

  • Dressed in whatever they were wearing at death, their bodies putrefy under the hot sun.

    Blog text (7)
  • Scores of dead pigeons putrefy in the hot sun.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • All that remained was the frog, its guts lying out in the hot sun, putrefying as he watched.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The protein will putrefy, and the carbohydrate will ferment.

    Blog text (21)
  • After the first night, the streets are littered with putrefying vegetable fragments.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • An oppressive, hot wind blew from the southeast, carrying with it the putrefying stench of decay.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Now he is putrefying on his narrow bed, and on the bedside stack of newspapers is a birdcage full of dead canaries.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Thousands of pupal cases of flies indicate the bodies were left out to putrefy; art showcasing flies suggests the insects held symbolic meaning for the Moche.

    Academic text (2002)

Antonyms

496 3.4

To keep people and things safe from harm or change

How Decomposed

to putrefy
4 9.2
to rot
156 1.4
decay
19 3.4
to spoil
30 1.6
to preserve
496 3.4

Surface Forms

putrefy infinitive
putrefied past
putrefied past participle
putrefying present participle
putrefies third person singular

Morphology

putrefy = putrid (semi-transparent) = putref + fy

Relation to the adjective 'putrid' is clear in meaning but the Latinate root 'putref-' and the spelling difference make the derivation less obvious to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

The word putrefy comes from Latin parts meaning 'rot' (putr-) and 'to make' (-fy), and it is related to the common word putrid. So, to putrefy is to 'become rotten' or 'make something rot', usually with a bad smell.