as in decomposition
the process by which dead organic matter separates into simpler substances
the ghastly festering of the corpses abandoned on the battlefield
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in rotting
to go through decomposition
a week after the battle the corpses of the fallen were still festering in the fields
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in bleeding
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of festering
Popular Mechanics, 14 Apr. 2023
For the moment at least, embassies remain open in both capitals despite a festering but unrelated diplomatic spat that has seen the two sides expel dozens of diplomats since 2017.
—chicagotribune.com, 3 Mar. 2022
Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025
Instead, what has become a festering problem for the Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder came up yet again.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
Is corruption festering in the apparently homogeneous suburb?
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2025
Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2025
Now a Congressman, state officials, and families are demanding accountability and bringing legal actions, saying that Roblox has allowed its platform to become a festering hub for horrific child exploitation.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 25 Aug. 2025
As buyers remained wary of sky-high prices, unbudging mortgage rates and festering economic uncertainty, the typical home sold last month spent 43 days on the market—the longest span for any July since 2015—before buyer and seller closed a deal on it, according to the real estate brokerage Redfin.
—Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Aug. 2025
Cortez Masto’s clash with Booker during Police Week offered a rare public window into those festering strategic disputes.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 7 Aug. 2025
Noun
Adding to the festering sense of uncertainty about the enterprise is the principal characters’ embrace of the supernatural.
—Popular Mechanics, 14 Apr. 2023
For the moment at least, embassies remain open in both capitals despite a festering but unrelated diplomatic spat that has seen the two sides expel dozens of diplomats since 2017.
—chicagotribune.com, 3 Mar. 2022
Verb
Either there will be sunlight or a scandal that keeps festering.
—Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025
Instead, what has become a festering problem for the Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder came up yet again.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
Is corruption festering in the apparently homogeneous suburb?
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
That nascent friendship was, however, shattered by the 1962 Sino-Indian War, a brief but brutal conflict that established a legacy of deep mistrust and an unresolved border dispute that remains the relationship’s festering wound.
—Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2025
Now a Congressman, state officials, and families are demanding accountability and bringing legal actions, saying that Roblox has allowed its platform to become a festering hub for horrific child exploitation.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 25 Aug. 2025
As buyers remained wary of sky-high prices, unbudging mortgage rates and festering economic uncertainty, the typical home sold last month spent 43 days on the market—the longest span for any July since 2015—before buyer and seller closed a deal on it, according to the real estate brokerage Redfin.
—Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Aug. 2025
Cortez Masto’s clash with Booker during Police Week offered a rare public window into those festering strategic disputes.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for festering
Noun
-
The website states that the body was located on Wednesday, October 4, 1978, and the remains were unrecognizable due to decomposition.—
Veronica Fulton,
NBC news,
21 Sep. 2025
-
Authorities told the outlets that the body was in a state of decomposition.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
There’s concerts, there’s dinners, there’s brunches, there’s rotting time at home.—
Jennifer Liu,
CNBC,
25 Sep. 2025
-
There, surrounding apple orchards and clumps of fallen, rotting fruit furnish the film with a rather literal visual metaphor, to which Etzler returns a bit too often.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
It is also naturally produced through the decay of other isotopes found in used nuclear fuel.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Sep. 2025
-
The two manage to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, New York mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This prompts the straw to start decomposing, ensuring the bales won’t overheat and burn your plants later.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Gates visited Koie’s mountainside studio in Gifu with Koie’s daughter, who shared that her father would be okay with the studio decomposing into the mountain.—
Elizabeth Cantrell,
Travel + Leisure,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Please tell me the sequel could answer the most burning question of the ’00s: How could Austin not recognize Sam in that mask?—
Stephanie McNeal,
Glamour,
13 Aug. 2025
-
Cooper, 30, asked Hargitay one more burning question about the actors' on-screen alter egos: will Olivia and Elliot ever end up together?—
Victoria Edel,
People.com,
26 June 2025
Noun
-
And that's because the rot appears to be spreading up the age range to the point that British first-time parents are now more likely to support axing the crown than ever before.—
Jack Royston,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
-
This all speaks to a deeper cultural rot—a lack of vision among people who have become accustomed to a life of doing nothing besides going to the gym, reading a trendy book, listening to a podcast.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Understanding Roly Poly Bugs Pillbugs and sowbugs are generalist scavengers, feeding on fungi, decaying matter, and occasionally plants, says Benson.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
23 Sep. 2025
-
Although that serves as the lynchpin of Hinako's journey through both her decaying town and the Otherworld, a strange realm that manifests itself through Hinako's fears and anxieties, the teenager's journey is rooted in more than just angst.—
Zackery Cuevas,
PC Magazine,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Were his character more precisely defined, Battle’s wail of feeling might carry you past the awkwardness of the songwriting, the nagging questions about what’s meant to be translucent or not, but here both character and emotion are indistinct.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Johnson’s exit from Sunday’s game was also compounded by the inactive status of slot corner Kyler Gordon, who has yet to play this season because of a nagging hamstring issue.—
Dan Wiederer,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Festering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/festering. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share