cankered

verb

past tense of canker
as in poisoned
to lower in character, dignity, or quality such shameless ambulance chasing cankers the legal profession

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cankered
  1. poisoned
  2. degraded
  3. corrupted
  4. weakened
  5. deteriorated
  6. damaged
  7. perverted
  8. depraved
Verb
  • Kenya has previously recorded incidents of elephants being poisoned as a result of poaching and human-wildlife conflict.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 29 July 2026
  • Most of the other relationships in the movie are hopelessly corrupted or poisoned in some way, as Letty moves between an unloving mother and a vengeful former lover, and others whose closeness is a weapon to be feared.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 28 July 2026
Definition of poisoned
Verb
  • Global conflict has already degraded the collaborative atmosphere at CERN, Llewellyn Smith said.
    — Lisa Song, CNN Money, 28 July 2026
  • In fact, over 70 percent of these barriers have degraded and lost functionality, frequently leaving the highway buried and blocked since 1999.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 27 July 2026
Definition of degraded
Verb
  • Most of the other relationships in the movie are hopelessly corrupted or poisoned in some way, as Letty moves between an unloving mother and a vengeful former lover, and others whose closeness is a weapon to be feared.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 28 July 2026
  • The unsightly mushroom could have corrupted her maids’ morals, or even their health.
    — Leah Hudson, Popular Science, 9 July 2026
Definition of corrupted
Verb
  • Except that the original ideas about the fundamental value of basic research have only been confirmed during this period, not weakened.
    — Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • But his father had come home later than usual, and his resolve had steadily weakened.
    — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of weakened
Verb
  • The leggings were still wet, heavily soiled, and badly deteriorated, LaHendro testified, making the edge detail too unreliable for comparison.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 24 July 2026
  • Oil prices have surged more than 30% in July with Brent crude breaking $100 per barrel on Thursday for the first time since May, as the security situation has rapidly deteriorated in the southern Red Sea and Hormuz.
    — Spencer Kimball,Deena Zaidi, CNBC, 24 July 2026
Definition of deteriorated
Verb
  • For dry, damaged, or chemically treated hair, most experts recommend using a rinse-out mask once or twice a week.
    — Anya Meyerowitz, Glamour, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Local officials in McCaysville, which sits at the Georgia-Tennessee border, have declared a state of emergency after the downpours flooded the town and damaged the water treatment plant, causing a shortage of drinking water.
    — Taylor Croft, AJC.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of damaged
Verb
  • More important to Bernstein is what that lust reveals about her characters’ deepest needs, specifically how their need to care and be cared for can be as easily perverted as any other form of desire.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 9 July 2026
  • Georgia Bernstein’s unsettling directorial debut focuses on how warped and perverted those desires become when they’re taken to their insatiable extremes.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 8 July 2026
Definition of perverted
Verb
  • Online court records show he is charged with first-degree murder dangerous depraved without premeditation.
    — KC Baker, PEOPLE, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Murdering a teenaged iconic athlete shows how deeply depraved the Iranian leadership is.
    — Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
Definition of depraved
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.

Browse Nearby Words

canker
cankered
cankering
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Cite this Entry

“Cankered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cankered. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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