Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for rotten on Thesaurus.com adjective, rot·ten·er, rot·ten·est. decomposing or decaying; putrid; tainted, foul, or bad-smelling. corrupt or morally offensive. wretchedly bad, unpleasant, or unsatisfactory; miserable: a rotten piece of work; a rotten day at the office. contemptible; despicable: a rotten little liar; a rotten trick. (of soil, rocks, etc.) soft, yielding, or friable as the result of decomposition. Australian Slang drunk .Show More
Origin of rotten 1175–1225; Middle English roten < Old Norse rotinn, past participle of an unrecorded verb meaning “to rot”
Related forms rot·ten·ly , adverb rot·ten·ness , noun half-rot·ten , adjective un·rot·ten , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for rotten putrid ,
rotting ,
disgusting ,
rancid ,
noxious ,
sour ,
spoiled ,
corrupt ,
moldy ,
stale ,
overripe ,
crooked ,
unpleasant ,
unlucky ,
lousy ,
diseased ,
crummy ,
amiss ,
nasty ,
dirty Examples from the Web for rotten Contemporary Examples of rotten It has grown from a rotten root—striving to replace human judgment with detailed dictates.
Which to me, after the initial explosion of the Sex Pistols, always made Rotten kind of boring.
Yeonmi had been hospitalized at the time for a stomach illness, likely from her diet of rotten potatoes.
Fittingly to that point, its Rotten Tomato score (as of Tuesday evening) was a flat 50 percent.
They know this is a rotten deal and they are demoralized, running faster and faster with no hope of catching up.
Historical Examples of rotten Even the best of them were rotten to the core, and but mere adventurers.
There ain't a rotten knot in it from butt to finish, and mighty few of any other kind.
She was of about two hundred tons burthen, but must have-been old and rotten .
It sheared off heads so many, that it, and the ground it most polluted, were a rotten red.
But he took me to his own house for a glass of sherry and a biscuit, and there it wasn't so rotten .
British Dictionary definitions for rotten affected with rot; decomposing, decaying, or putrid breaking up, esp through age or hard use; disintegrating rotten ironwork morally despicable or corrupt untrustworthy, disloyal, or treacherous informal unpleasant, unfortunate, or nasty rotten luck ; rotten weather informal unsatisfactory or poor rotten workmanship informal miserably unwell informal distressed, uncomfortable, and embarrassed I felt rotten when I told him to go (of rocks, soils, etc) soft and crumbling, esp as a result of weathering slang , mainly Australian and NZ intoxicated; drunk Show More
extremely; very much men fancy her rotten Show More
Derived Forms rottenly , adverb rottenness , noun Word Origin for rotten C13: from Old Norse rottin ; related to Old English rotian to rot 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for rotten adj. c.1300, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse rotinn "decayed," past participle of verb related to rotna "to decay," from Proto-Germanic stem *rut- (see rot (v.)). Sense of "corrupt" is from late 14c.; weakened sense of "bad" first recorded 1881. Rotten apple is from a saying traced back to at least 1528: "For one rotten apple lytell and lytell putrifieth an whole heape." The Rotten Row in London and elsewhere probably is from a different word, but of uncertain origin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
