putrescent

[pyoo-tres-uhnt]

adjective

1. becoming putrid; undergoing putrefaction.

2. of or relating to putrefaction.

putrescent

/ pjuːˈtrɛsənt /

adjective

1. becoming putrid; rotting

2. characterized by or undergoing putrefaction

Other Word Forms

• putrescence noun
• putrescency noun
• nonputrescence noun
• nonputrescent adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of putrescent¹

1725–35; < Latin putrēscent- (stem of putrēscēns ), present participle of putrēscere to grow rotten

Word History and Origins

Origin of putrescent¹

C18: from Latin putrescere to become rotten

Example Sentences

The idea has risen like cheap champagne in the putrescent bowels of the Republicans.

From Salon

Because it is a putrescent pile of racist myths and cliches.

From Washington Post

This cheery facade was always rotten, red meat for investors propped up by a trembling skeleton of venture capital, but now it is absolutely putrescent.

From The Verge

As with all our monsters, zombies rise so that the living can either also fall or find some kind of salvation by surviving, fighting and obliterating these putrescent threats.

From New York Times

The pinkish, putrescent, rurally located lagoons have been a source of concern for decades.

From The New Yorker

Related Words

• contaminated www.thesaurus.com
• disagreeable 
• fetid 
• moldy 
• musty 
• polluted 
• putrid 
• smelly 
• soured www.thesaurus.com
• stale 
• tainted