fester
Americanverb (used without object)
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to form pus; generate purulent matter; suppurate.
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to cause ulceration, as a foreign body in the flesh.
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to putrefy or rot.
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to rankle, as a feeling of resentment.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an ulcer; a rankling sore.
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a small, purulent, superficial sore.
verb
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to form or cause to form pus
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(intr) to become rotten; decay
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to become or cause to become bitter, irritated, etc, esp over a long period of time; rankle
resentment festered his imagination
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informal (intr) to be idle or inactive
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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festersimple
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festerssimple
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have festeredperfect
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has festeredperfect
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am festeringprogressive
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are festeringprogressive
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is festeringprogressive
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have been festeringperfect progressive
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has been festeringperfect progressive
Past
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festeredsimple
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had festeredperfect
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was festeringprogressive
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were festeringprogressive
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had been festeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fester
1350–1400; (noun) Middle English festir, festre < Anglo-French, Old French festre < Latin fistula fistula (for -l- > -r- cf. chapter); (v.) Middle English festryn, derivative of the noun or < Old French festrir
Explanation
To fester is to grow and spread, not in a good way. When a cut gets infected it starts to fester and smell bad. Emotional wounds stink too, like when you hold on to anger or pain until it starts to fester and explodes. Fester is a verb describing what happens to a wound or a sore that gets worse and has liquid, or pus, oozing out. Infections cause cuts, broken bones, and diseases to fester. Dead bodies can fester too — as they decompose. Things that fester have a decaying odor, and bad feelings can have a decaying effect on friendships and the heart. Letting bitter emotions fester often leads to their getting worse.
Vocabulary lists containing fester
Bud, Not Buddy
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Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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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.
See Examples For:
Given your reaction, I don’t believe it’s a good idea to let this fester.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Psychiatric researchers are referring to the confluence of these three characteristics—sycophancy, linguistic alignment and hyperpersonalization—as the “amplification spiral,” suggesting it’s the mechanism by which delusional thinking can fester.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
But it doesn’t get better if we just leave the bubble to fester.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
In the San Fernando Valley case, Internal Affairs investigators reported turning up an “overwhelming pattern of intentional policy violations” by the officers involved, and said poor management allowed a “rampant culture of misconduct” to fester.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
As Cicero explains showily, he himself hesitates to directly order the banishment—because then, he says, not only would he appear cruel and tyrannical but Catiline’s coconspirators would still fester in the heart of the city.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
By your early 70s, the anxiety festers and grows.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026
With no immediate help from officers, the fear and anxiety festers inside you.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2025
They allow listeners to call or text questions on WhatsApp, a social media platform especially popular with immigrant communities but where much of the misinformation they see festers.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2024
Journalists who joined the patrol also witnessed what life has been like for the Philippine Coast Guard as the South China Sea dispute festers.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2023
Below us Toronto festers in the evening heat, the trees spreading like worn moss, the lake zinc in the distance.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
The current generation of players have decided now is the time to act on a disagreement that has festered for much of the past two decades.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
But an uneasy tension festered behind the fanfare.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
The problem only festered further under Lincoln Riley, as the coach initially cast a wider net nationally, aiming for top prospects in states like Texas and Florida while local stars signed and shined elsewhere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025
No amount of martyrdom can save his legacy from succumbing to the rot he festered.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2025
However few people can successfully demonstrate a principle in common ethics when their deliberation is festered with emotionalism.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
As earnings season gets under way, festering worries about artificial-intelligence stocks could be put to bed.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
The subindex tracking service activity rose to 50.3 from April’s 49.6, while the construction subindex stood at 48.8, compared with 48.0 in the prior month as a festering property slump continued to weigh on growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
But with little progress on the issues festering and so much riding on their relationship, any reprieve could be temporary—and the space for surprises large.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
Such incidents have resurfaced the Indonesian public’s festering distrust of the police force, said Jacqui Baker, a scholar of Indonesian security and policing at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2025
And you, my husband, what chance have you when so many young men are festering in idleness!
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
