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.

---

Other Word Forms

• cankeredly adverb
• cankeredness noun
• uncankered adjective

Etymology

Origin of cankered

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at 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

He was a tailor in the Parish of Crail, famous for fish and herrings—a real cankered body, but with about an equal quantity of humour or malevolent wit.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 13 by Various

I was nae langer impeded in my endeavour to see Mr Gilbert Walker, whom I discovered in an arm-chair, as yellow as saffron, and as cankered as a nettle.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Vol. XX by Leighton, Alexander

The only mistake that I have made was in supposing Massachusetts wholly choked with cotton-dust and cankered with gold.

From The Bull-Run Rout Scenes Attending the First Clash of Volunteers in the Civil War by Clement, Edward Henry