festered; festering
ˈfe-st(ə-)riŋ 
1
: to generate pus
The wound became inflamed and festered.
3
a
: to cause increasing poisoning, irritation, or bitterness : rankle
dissent festered unchecked
His resentment festered for years.
b
: to undergo or exist in a state of progressive deterioration
allowed slums to fester
: to make inflamed or corrupt
: a suppurating sore : pustule
Did you know?
Fester comes from Latin fistula, meaning "pipe" or "fistulous ulcer." Fistula, in English, refers to an abnormal passage leading from an abscess or hollow organ and permitting passage of fluids or secretions. The word's use as a verb meaning "to generate pus" influenced its use as a word implying a worsening state.
Synonyms
Examples of fester in a Sentence
Verb
His wounds festered for days before he got medical attention.
His feelings of resentment have festered for years.
We should deal with these problems now instead of allowing them to fester.
Noun
pus oozed out of the fester
Recent Examples on the Web
Craig Stirling, Fortune Europe, 9 May 2024
That will be the thrust of the message that Sanders will carry through November, even as progressive furor over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza continues to escalate, protests continue to fester and Sanders’ own critiques of the administration’s policy become more pointed.
—Seung Min Kim, Fortune, 7 May 2024
But former school leaders allowed the problems to fester for so long – while funneling money toward luxuries for men’s teams – that full solutions are now tens of millions of dollars out of reach.
—Kenny Jacoby, USA TODAY, 7 May 2024
As for her husband, Jude Law takes on the role of Henry VIII, portraying the legendary monarch as an aging, mercurial, festering wound of a human being.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 6 May 2024
The pandemic exposed cracks in the local food system that for years were festering as inequality in Silicon Valley grew.
—Grace Hase, The Mercury News, 4 May 2024
Bayer Leverkusen, instead, has stepped up, a fairy-tale success story that reads like a searing critique at Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park, crystallizing a sense of waywardness, of lost purpose, that has been festering for some time.
—Rory Smith, New York Times, 3 May 2024
In the tower, Mahito learns that some forms of care can be like putting a Band-Aid over a festering wound.
—Moeko Fujii, The New Yorker, 2 May 2024
Employers that pull back on these efforts may be allowing discriminatory practices–some that have been festering for decades if not centuries–to go unremedied.
—Ming-Qi Chu, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2024
Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2024
As Israel wages its counterattack against Hamas, doubt festers: Is Israel justified in its retaliation?
—Haley Strack, National Review, 1 Mar. 2024
Development aid has been diverted to the war in Ukraine, leaving humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Yemen, the Horn of Africa, and elsewhere to fester amid soaring food prices and collapsing services.
—Suzanne Nossel, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2022
Will the United States, for vile political reasons, let the conflict fester and encourage authoritarian and anti-American forces throughout Europe?
—Bernard-Henri Lévy, The Mercury News, 2 Jan. 2024
This need to let the uncomfortableness fester and relish the minutia has long been part of Safdie’s career ethos.
—Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2023
The rage festers and we are left under a pile of loneliness and debilitating shame.
—Petal Modeste, Parents, 25 Sep. 2023
Loss that isn’t acknowledged can curdle into something else — cynicism, for instance, or the kind of resentment that festers into a hateful rage.
—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2023
Related Articles Clarity offered on Jimmy Butler’s Heat absence, ‘This shouldn’t be a long-term or lingering issue’
Center Kevin Love said the Heat cannot allow the loss to fester after losing to a Suns team lacking sidelined Kevin Durant and Eric Gordon.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2024
Verb
While polarization festering between the Dutch-speaking north and the French-speaking south has long been a problem in the country of almost 12 million people, the aftermath of June’s election could be even trickier.
—Craig Stirling, Fortune Europe, 9 May 2024
That will be the thrust of the message that Sanders will carry through November, even as progressive furor over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza continues to escalate, protests continue to fester and Sanders’ own critiques of the administration’s policy become more pointed.
—Seung Min Kim, Fortune, 7 May 2024
But former school leaders allowed the problems to fester for so long – while funneling money toward luxuries for men’s teams – that full solutions are now tens of millions of dollars out of reach.
—Kenny Jacoby, USA TODAY, 7 May 2024
As for her husband, Jude Law takes on the role of Henry VIII, portraying the legendary monarch as an aging, mercurial, festering wound of a human being.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 6 May 2024
The pandemic exposed cracks in the local food system that for years were festering as inequality in Silicon Valley grew.
—Grace Hase, The Mercury News, 4 May 2024
Bayer Leverkusen, instead, has stepped up, a fairy-tale success story that reads like a searing critique at Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park, crystallizing a sense of waywardness, of lost purpose, that has been festering for some time.
—Rory Smith, New York Times, 3 May 2024
In the tower, Mahito learns that some forms of care can be like putting a Band-Aid over a festering wound.
—Moeko Fujii, The New Yorker, 2 May 2024
Employers that pull back on these efforts may be allowing discriminatory practices–some that have been festering for decades if not centuries–to go unremedied.
—Ming-Qi Chu, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2024
Noun
Berkeley is not the only Bay Area district to face accusations of allowing antisemitism to fester in classrooms.
—Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2024
As Israel wages its counterattack against Hamas, doubt festers: Is Israel justified in its retaliation?
—Haley Strack, National Review, 1 Mar. 2024
Development aid has been diverted to the war in Ukraine, leaving humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Yemen, the Horn of Africa, and elsewhere to fester amid soaring food prices and collapsing services.
—Suzanne Nossel, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2022
Will the United States, for vile political reasons, let the conflict fester and encourage authoritarian and anti-American forces throughout Europe?
—Bernard-Henri Lévy, The Mercury News, 2 Jan. 2024
This need to let the uncomfortableness fester and relish the minutia has long been part of Safdie’s career ethos.
—Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2023
The rage festers and we are left under a pile of loneliness and debilitating shame.
—Petal Modeste, Parents, 25 Sep. 2023
Loss that isn’t acknowledged can curdle into something else — cynicism, for instance, or the kind of resentment that festers into a hateful rage.
—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2023
Related Articles Clarity offered on Jimmy Butler’s Heat absence, ‘This shouldn’t be a long-term or lingering issue’
Center Kevin Love said the Heat cannot allow the loss to fester after losing to a Suns team lacking sidelined Kevin Durant and Eric Gordon.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fester.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fester
Cite this Entry
“Fester.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fester. Accessed 18 May. 2024.
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