cankered

American  

[kang-kerd] / ˈkæŋ kərd /

adjective

1. morally corrupt.

2. bad-tempered.

3. (of plants)

   1. destroyed or having portions destroyed by the feeding of a cankerworm.

   2. having a cankerous part; infected with a canker.

4. ulcerated.

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Other Word Forms

• cankeredly adverb
• cankeredness noun
• uncankered adjective

Etymology

Origin of cankered

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; canker, -ed ³

Example Sentences

He has suffered for it: his health debilitated by frequent hunger strikes, his knees cankered with sores from long sessions of prayer, according to prison officials.

From Time • Jul. 28, 2010

Hamlet paused before coming to his point “I wish to discover whether a surgeon, by cutting out the cankered spot, could restore the vital spirit to perfection.”

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Come, Gemmel, lad, it is o' nae use to be in a cankered humour for ever.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 7 by Various

And lovely girls, charming, and in Cynthia Walters's case a lily with a cankered calyx.

From Unicorns by Huneker, James

He replied still from St. James: 'How? why my gold and silver are cankered, the rust of them shall witness against me; they eat up my flesh as it were fire.'

From Coelebs In Search of a Wife by More, Hannah