rotten
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹɒtn̩/
ipa: /ˈɹɑtn̩/
ipa: [ˈɹɑʔn̩]
rhymes: -ɒtən
Forms: form: rottener
form: more rotten
form: rottenest
form: most rotten
Etymology: From Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn (“decayed, rotten”), past participle of an unrecorded verb related to Old Norse rotna (“to rot”) and Old English rotian (“to rot”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”). See rot. By surface analysis, rot + -en (past participle).
Senses: examples: text: If you leave a bin unattended for a few weeks, the rubbish inside will turn rotten.
text: Antonio: Mark you this, Bassanio, / The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. / An evil soul producing holy witness / Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, / A goodly apple rotten at the heart. / O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
glosses: Of perishable items, overridden with bacteria and other infectious agents.
examples: text: The floors were damaged and the walls were rotten.
text: His mouth stank and his teeth were rotten.
text: But poore old man, thou prun'ſt a rotten tree, / That cannot ſo much as a bloſſome yeelde
ref: c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 191:
glosses: In a state of decay.
examples: text: That man is a rotten father.
text: This rotten policy will create more injustice in this country.
text: Something is rotten in the State of Denmarke.
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv], page 257, column 2:
glosses: Cruel, mean or immoral.
examples: text: Why is the weather always rotten in this city?
text: It was a rotten idea to take the boat out today.
text: She has the flu and feels rotten.
glosses: Bad or terrible.
examples: text: The quartz specimens were sometimes blue, hard-looking stone, or rotten quartz largely impregnated with iron, in both cases carrying bright glittering nodules of gold.
ref: 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 215:
glosses: Of stone or rock, crumbling or friable; in a loose or disintegrated state.
glosses: Very drunk, intoxicated.
Synonyms: word: bad
word: carious
word: gone bad
word: gone off
word: maggoted
word: rotten
word: spoiled
Hypernyms: word: contaminated
word: decayed
word: inedible
Hyponyms: word: curdled
word: moldy
word: musty
word: mildewed
word: fusty
word: flyblown
word: maggoty
word: overripe
word: putrid
word: reasty
word: rancid
word: sour
Derived terms: Rosie Rottencrotch
rotten apple
rotten borough
rotten egg
rotten egg gas
rottenly
rottenness
rotten stone
rotten to the core
rotten wood
something is rotten in the state of Denmark
spoiled rotten
spoil somebody rotten
spoil someone rotten
Susie Rottencrotch
unrotten
Your Rottenness
Related terms: word: saprogenic
word: fermented
word: passed something's sell-by date
word: stale