as in to rot
to go through decomposition
a week after the battle the corpses of the fallen were still festering in the fields
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Recent Examples of fester
Tim Sullivan, Twin Cities, 20 Jan. 2026
Complaints about the shelter showed that problems have festered for years, reaching a breaking point after a rise in animal deaths led the agency to lose its no-kill status and city officials to call for an audit.
—Devan Patel, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Frustration over Iran’s struggling economy has festered.
—Mitchell McCluskey, CNN Money, 12 Jan. 2026
Without such a reckoning, there can be neither justice nor reconciliation; the past will fester.
—Boris Muñoz, Time, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fester
Verb
There was the diabetic afraid to pick up insulin, the patient with a treatable wound that festered and required a trip to the intensive care unit, and the hospital staffers — from Latin America, Somalia, Myanmar and elsewhere — too scared to come to work.
—Tim Sullivan, Twin Cities, 20 Jan. 2026
Complaints about the shelter showed that problems have festered for years, reaching a breaking point after a rise in animal deaths led the agency to lose its no-kill status and city officials to call for an audit.
—Devan Patel, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Frustration over Iran’s struggling economy has festered.
—Mitchell McCluskey, CNN Money, 12 Jan. 2026
Without such a reckoning, there can be neither justice nor reconciliation; the past will fester.
—Boris Muñoz, Time, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fester
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fester
Verb
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The water was yellow and smelled like rotting eggs.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
1 Feb. 2026
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If the center is rotting out, add a little potting soil and plant flowers right in the stump.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The hard-working mix of merino wool with nylon and elastane has kept me warm and blister-free during all these activities.—
Lisa Jhung,
Outside,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Last year, Cabrera missed the start of the regular season with a blister on his middle finger, then missed three weeks in September due to a right elbow sprain.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The following month, on April 17, 1996, two county workers stumbled across the decomposing remains of Kenneth Smith.—
Christine Pelisek,
PEOPLE,
30 Jan. 2026
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The body was decomposed, a fire official said.—
Joe Marusak,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Bring the sauce to a boil once more, add the lid, then cook in the oven for 1 hour.—
Karla Walsh,
Better Homes & Gardens,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.—
Gretchen McKay,
Twin Cities,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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As in a seventeenth-century poem by John Donne, George Herbert, or Andrew Marvell, the fraught human body is a microcosm, a mirror to the larger disintegrating world spirit.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
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While other researchers have previously developed RFID capsules, the human digestive tract couldn’t disintegrate them, so all their components needed to travel the length of the body and exit in feces, or accumulate inside the body.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Spoiler alert: The monster is definitely real, a lion-bear hybrid covered in disgusting bloody pustules.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Oct. 2025
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In fact, one of the most common triggers of rosacea, which is characterized by flushing, swelling, spider veins, papules, and pustules, is exposure to sunlight.—
Sherri Gordon,
Health,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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After Violette’s exhibition closed last June, the sculpture was transported to a roadside plot in Ithaca, the site of the former Cortright Electric company, where it will be left to decay.—
Rachel Wetzler,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2026
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The Benefits Of Planting Over A Tree Stump Planting over an old tree stump has many benefits beyond disguising it, because decaying wood contributes to the soil life cycle.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Bioré is putting pimples in the penalty box this basketball season.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
29 Jan. 2026
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My features were regular, barely changed from childhood except for a pimple above my lip.—
Nell Freudenberger,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fester.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fester. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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