decomposing 1 of 2

adjective

as in decomposed

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decomposing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of decompose
as in rotting
to go through decomposition detectives needed to know how long it would take a corpse to decompose to that advanced state

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 decomposing
Verb
Authorities said the remains included bones believed to belong to four newborns and the decomposing body of a fifth. — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026 Ament revisited his archive of decomposing negatives with his brother, designer Barry Ament, a few years ago. — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 29 July 2026 The 21-year-old is being held on charges of murder after 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s decomposing body was found stuffed in the front trunk of his Tesla on September 8, 2025. — Claudia Rosenbaum, Vulture, 28 July 2026 It was ruled as a spontaneous combustion, apparently because of the summer heat combined with gases escaping from decomposing film, sending flames some 100 feet into the air and killing a 13-year-old boy. — Tim Page, The Washington Examiner, 25 July 2026 Silverman began this week’s preliminary hearing by showing grisly photos of Hernandez’s decomposing corpse, which was found in September 2025 in a Hollywood tow yard. — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 24 July 2026 About four months after Celeste’s death, her decomposing body was found in the Tesla registered to Burke after it was towed from the Hollywood Hills in September. — Madeline Morrison, NBC news, 22 July 2026 The Science Behind This Tip Fruit flies are attracted to the smell of ripening fruit and decomposing produce. — Christine Fiorentino, Southern Living, 19 July 2026 In the mornings, our counselors still walk, slowly now, through the stench of bodies decomposing under the ruins of schools, mosques, and homes. — James Gordon, Time, 14 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decomposing
  1. decomposed
  2. rotting
  3. decaying
  4. disintegrating
  5. decayed
  6. rotted
  7. rotten
  8. spoiled
Adjective
  • Two decomposed bodies have been found within five days at a park in western North Carolina, and both cases are classified as murders, according to investigators.
    — Mark Price July 26, Charlotte Observer, 26 July 2026
  • At a time when the Earth was bare, when there were no vertebrates, no trees, no leaves, no flowering plants, and no plants with seeds, millipedes were feeding on decaying mosses, decomposed slime, and primordial gunk.
    — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 13 June 2026
Definition of decomposed
Verb
  • Cleanup efforts at the Lineage cold-storage warehouse in Boyle Heights are nearing the halfway mark, six weeks after a fire at the depot left millions of pounds of rotting food to pollute the Los Angeles neighborhood.
    — Gavin J. Quinton, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026
  • Field trials in Qinghai province and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region have already proven successful, demonstrating that bamboo barriers can endure brutal desert climates without brittle snapping or rotting early.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 27 July 2026
Definition of rotting
Adjective
  • The district also could be in for other major changes in the coming years, including the opening of a few new schools to replace multiple decaying, underenrolled schools.
    — Scott Travis, Miami Herald, 15 May 2026
Definition of decaying
Verb
  • Others rot in the California sun, disintegrating into bony fragments.
    — Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
  • The experiments have shown how a self-repair mechanism enables the spindle to stabilize itself under force and avoid disintegrating.
    — Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 29 June 2026
Definition of disintegrating
Adjective
  • Discard any that look dead or decayed.
    — Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The farm buildings on the property—long verandas, shearing sheds, and concrete kennels—are old and decayed, remnants from long before the group showed up.
    — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
Definition of decayed
Adjective
  • Inspect fences and perform any repairs or maintenance, such as reinforcing posts or replacing rotted sections.
    — BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026
  • Many grapes become too rotted and are left to wither away.
    — John Mariani, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of rotted
Adjective
  • The smell of rotten eggs permeates communities where large piles of decaying sargassum emit ammonia and hydrogen sulfide.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 31 July 2026
  • The rotten culture that is seeping ever deeper into football was exemplified by the announcement that one of the game’s most successful referees had retired.
    — Graham Scott, New York Times, 23 July 2026
Definition of rotten
Adjective
  • There’s no way to know how many of the spoiled ballots were from Democrats or Republicans because voters in Wisconsin do not register by party.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 July 2026
  • His crippling, his stubborn arrogance and refusal to be humbled, has somehow humanized the spoiled brat king.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of spoiled

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Cite this Entry

“Decomposing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decomposing. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on decomposing

Nglish: Translation of decomposing for Spanish Speakers

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