rotten
Americanadjective
-
decomposing or decaying; putrid; tainted, foul, or bad-smelling.
- Antonyms:
- sound
-
corrupt or morally offensive.
- Synonyms:
- immoral
- Antonyms:
- moral
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- treacherous, unwholesome, disgusting
-
(of soil, rocks, etc.) soft, yielding, or friable as the result of decomposition.
-
Australian Slang. drunk.
adjective
-
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 intoxicated; drunk
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rotten
1175–1225; Middle English roten < Old Norse rotinn, past participle of an unrecorded verb meaning “to rot”
Explanation
Use the adjective rotten to describe something that is decaying or decayed. If you are like most people, you occasionally have to throw out rotten food — sometimes, it's so nasty you can't even tell what the food was in its original form! The adjective rotten also describes something that is very poor in quality. If your car has a flat tire, your dog threw up on the carpet, and your boss yelled at you, you can say you are having "a rotten day." Another use for rotten is to describe something that is damaged by decay. Weather damage can cause boards to rot, so if you are working on an old house, you should especially watch out for rotten floor boards. You wouldn't want to fall through to the basement!
Vocabulary lists containing rotten
Oh, No! Synonyms for "Bad"
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List 3
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So Bad: Synonyms for "Awful"
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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.
Bezos’ participation provided a flashpoint, the rotten cherry on top of the whole stinking “let them eat cake.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026
But a single bad day anywhere in that chain can mean tens of thousands of dollars lost in rotten produce.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026
I understand every grubby, rotten impulse of the bereaved.
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026
He says that many of them were thirsty, starving or had rotten feet after journeying into Evros.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
She smiled at him, and he smiled back, revealing a set of rotten teeth.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
