canker 1 of 2

verb

Definition of cankernext
as in to poison
to lower in character, dignity, or quality such shameless ambulance chasing cankers the legal profession

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

canker

2 of 2

noun

as in rot

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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 canker
Noun
Nectria kills areas of woody tissue, sometimes creating cankers on the tree stem and large branches which in turn weaken the tree. — Pamm Cooper, Hartford Courant, 25 Jan. 2026 This damages the trunk and leaves an ugly, elongated canker that invites insects and stresses the tree, leading to stunted growth, sparse foliage, and stem dieback. — Luke Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Jan. 2026 Bacterial plant diseases include speck (a winter-surviving infection that attacks tomatoes), canker (which damages fruit trees including those producing apples and peaches), and blight (which rots melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, beans, and more). — New Atlas, 10 Jan. 2026 Even the most superb body begins to diminish in a person’s early 30s, thanks to the onset of sarcopenia, which sounds like a canker but means the incremental decline of muscle mass. — Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for canker
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canker
  1. poison
  2. rot
  3. corrupt
  4. decay
  5. degrade
  6. cancer
  7. deteriorate
  8. squalor
Verb
  • Over the course of Exile, one of Loktev’s subjects is poisoned; another receives a five-year prison sentence in absentia.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026
  • This is the league, remember, where a man (Harvey Updyke) confessed to poisoning the trees at Auburn on a radio show after Alabama lost to the Tigers, and a coach (Jackie Sherrill at Mississippi State) castrated a bull to motivate his squad.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of poison
Noun
  • Hossain and her collaborators have conjured an internalized hellscape marked by sensual photography, gnarly cyst makeup, and suffocating matrimonial rituals involving turmeric and milk — all redolent with upper-class heteronormative rot.
    — Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Interestingly, though, Oppenheim doesn’t see the media as inherently corrupting; in Primetime, television is simply an empty space, and the desperation to fill it with the lowest common denominator is where the rots starts to set in.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of rot
Verb
  • This may then seem like yet another story about how Trump has wrecked norms and corrupted the rule of law.
    — James Surowiecki, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Instead, in trying to explain what made both Murdoch and Lamb tick in those early days, Boyle and Graham show us just how intoxicating and corrupting this kind of success can be.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of corrupt
Noun
  • Ewa Mroczkowska’s production design also turns dewy embankments, decadent interiors, and sunrises over cemeteries into visions of storybook-like decay.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
  • One of them in particular, portrayed with vicious snark by Vicky Krieps, revels in the moral decay of her times, thirsting for blood.
    — Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of decay
Verb
  • Users will likely notice if outputs degrade, just like Chinese systems attacking models would.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 9 Sep. 2026
  • In 1963, Gloria Steinem went undercover for a journalism assignment as a Playboy bunny, exposing degrading working conditions that forced policy changes.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of degrade
Noun
  • People with chronic conditions requiring medication, like diabetes, hypertension or cancer, are especially vulnerable in crises like these, says Simkhada.
    — Jonathan Lambert, NPR, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Utrera was the first in his family to graduate from high school, was the first to get a college degree and now works at a major cancer hospital as a clinical research coordinator.
    — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of cancer
Verb
  • The bank raised its price target to 19 cents per pound over three months, citing tightening inventories, India’s unexpected import program and deteriorating weather in India, Thailand and the EU.
    — Deena Zaidi, CNBC, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The facility’s ceiling paint started to deteriorate above the Hobart Vulcan streamer.
    — Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of deteriorate
Noun
  • Bryant was charged in February 2025 with first-degree child abuse after investigators found that her children — at the time ages 12, 13, and 15 — had been living alone for at least four years in a townhouse on Lydia Lane, trapped in squalor.
    — Andrea May Sahouri, Freep.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Amid the squalor and chaos of a Provincetown kitchen, Anthony Bourdain found his—and Tony did, too.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of squalor

Browse Nearby Words

canisters
canker
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“Canker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canker. Accessed 10 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on canker

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about canker

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