fester

American  

[fes-ter] / ˈfɛs tər /

verb (used without object)

• festers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• festered,
  past participle,  past
• festering
  present participle

1. to form pus; generate purulent matter; suppurate.

2. to cause ulceration, as a foreign body in the flesh.

3. to putrefy or rot.

4. to rankle, as a feeling of resentment.

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verb (used with object)

• festers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• festered,
  past participle,  past
• festering
  present participle

1. to cause to rankle.

   Malice festered his spirit.

noun

1. an ulcer; a rankling sore.

2. a small, purulent, superficial sore.

fester British  

/ ˈfɛstə /

verb

1. to form or cause to form pus

2. (intr) to become rotten; decay

3. to become or cause to become bitter, irritated, etc, esp over a long period of time; rankle

   resentment festered his imagination

4. informal (intr) to be idle or inactive

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noun

1. a small ulcer or sore containing pus

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unfestered
  adjective
• unfestering
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• festering
  present
• festered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fester
  simple
• festers
  simple
• have festered
  perfect
• has festered
  perfect
• am festering
  progressive
• are festering
  progressive
• is festering
  progressive
• have been festering
  perfect progressive
• has been festering
  perfect progressive

Past

• festered
  simple
• had festered
  perfect
• was festering
  progressive
• were festering
  progressive
• had been festering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fester
  simple
• will have festered
  perfect
• will be festering
  progressive
• will have been festering
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fester festers festered festering

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

Salim says that both show the dangers of allowing pride to fester and swell unchecked.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 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

In April, the government shared their update of the Women's Health Strategy, when Health Secretary Wes Streeting said they wanted to "dismantle the culture and ingrained behaviours that allow medical misogyny to fester and grow".

From BBC ● May 11, 2026

She could never be free of the fester.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

By your early 70s, the anxiety festers and grows.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026

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

Given the heavy rainfall and nonporous soil, the waste festers, exposing residents to health risks.

From New York Times ● May 5, 2023

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

Now everything resonates, sticks like a splinter, festers.

From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour

But an uneasy tension festered behind the fanfare.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

Peace proposals and presidents have come and gone but the problems have festered.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2025

Resentment festered in the meantime, as Bush and his peers questioned why the school hadn’t fought harder to defend him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024

Wilson’s lead is a working-class Black man, a former Negro league superstar whose dreams festered when baseball’s color barrier prevented him from rising into the big leagues.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2024

I hoped it would blow over, but Dad was so hurt that I hadn’t mentioned homeschooling in my interviews that this new wound festered.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

As earnings season gets under way, festering worries about artificial-intelligence stocks could be put to bed.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 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

The insanity of investing in a new playground when a dozen festering issues make the park unsafe should be crystal clear to one and all.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026

Behind Altman’s “code red” declaration, however, are tensions between camps inside the company that have been festering for years, according to people familiar with the matter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025

Stale and wilted flowers, rejected downtown, blazed feverishly on a cart, like glamorous rags festering beneath a futile spray from a punctured fruit juice can.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Related Words

• smolder