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.
“But they go rotten very quickly once you pick them, so people make them into wine, or jam. I’ve never had them fresh.”
From Literature
Under President Xi Jinping, an anti-corruption crackdown has swept through Chinese football in recent years, exposing the rotten state of the professional game.
From Barron's
The crowded streets reek of rotten fish, and it pains me to see Father limping again.
From Literature
I wanted to say that little Flora was already spoiled rotten.
From Literature
The first of those never recovered from a rotten start, when they collected two points from their opening seven games.
From BBC
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.
