rotten
Americanadjective
-
decomposing or decaying; putrid; tainted, foul, or bad-smelling.
- Antonyms:
- sound
-
corrupt or morally offensive.
- Synonyms:
- immoral
- Antonyms:
- moral
-
wretchedly bad, unpleasant, or unsatisfactory; miserable.
a rotten piece of work; a rotten day at the office.
-
contemptible; despicable.
a rotten little liar; a rotten trick.
- Synonyms:
- treacherous, unwholesome, disgusting
-
(of soil, rocks, etc.) soft, yielding, or friable as the result of decomposition.
-
Australian Slang. drunk.
adjective
-
affected with rot; decomposing, decaying, or putrid
-
breaking up, esp through age or hard use; disintegrating
rotten ironwork
-
morally despicable or corrupt
-
untrustworthy, disloyal, or treacherous
-
informal unpleasant, unfortunate, or nasty
rotten luck
rotten weather
-
informal unsatisfactory or poor
rotten workmanship
-
informal miserably unwell
-
informal distressed, uncomfortable, and embarrassed
I felt rotten when I told him to go
-
(of rocks, soils, etc) soft and crumbling, esp as a result of weathering
-
slang intoxicated; drunk
adverb
Other Word Forms
- half-rotten adjective
- rottenly adverb
- rottenness noun
- unrotten adjective
Etymology
Origin of rotten
1175–1225; Middle English roten < Old Norse rotinn, past participle of an unrecorded verb meaning “to rot”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He knew that the Hidden People live inside rocks and rivers, just as the clans live in shelters, and that they seem beautiful until they turn their backs, which are hollow as rotten trees.
From Literature
“I said I’m not paying rent, because there’s mice, there’s rats, the floor is rotten, one bathtub there is no water,” he said in the video.
From Los Angeles Times
A six-foot-tall, old rotten stump with the bark knocked off, glowing in the dark with a bright green glow.
From Literature
Dunkin’ started testing a 48-ounce iced coffee bucket in the middle of a particularly rotten February in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
“Like you just ate something rotten,” I said.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
