as in decomposed
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 festered
The bad blood that had festered between the two competitors came to a boiling point.
—
Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 11 May 2026
For years, this debate between stricter codes and affordable housing festered behind the scenes, including at the obscure International Code Council, which brings together government officials, contractors, appliance makers and others to lay the groundwork for model codes.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
The controversy stretches back years, but festered under ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was in office from 2018-2024.
—ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
Here, according to the MAGA universe, festered the deep state.
—David Blumenthal, STAT, 24 Mar. 2026
And, yet, concerns festered all the same.
—Noah Furtado, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Feb. 2026
The bad blood festered for months.
—Chris McKenna, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2026
Internal tension about direction and leadership succession festered within the firm.
—Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 31 Jan. 2026
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, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 11 May 2026
For years, this debate between stricter codes and affordable housing festered behind the scenes, including at the obscure International Code Council, which brings together government officials, contractors, appliance makers and others to lay the groundwork for model codes.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
The controversy stretches back years, but festered under ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was in office from 2018-2024.
—ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
Here, according to the MAGA universe, festered the deep state.
—David Blumenthal, STAT, 24 Mar. 2026
And, yet, concerns festered all the same.
—Noah Furtado, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Feb. 2026
The bad blood festered for months.
—Chris McKenna, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2026
Internal tension about direction and leadership succession festered within the firm.
—Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 31 Jan. 2026
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, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for festered
Verb
-
Biodegradable waste consists of organic materials, such as food scraps, vegetable peels, paper, leaves, and agricultural residues, that can be decomposed naturally through microbial processes.—
Aman Kumar,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
14 May 2026
-
Halleck adds coffee grounds need to be decomposed by microbes first to release nitrogen and other nutrients.—
Lauren David,
Southern Living,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Late Saturday, rescue crews were trying to determine whether the ValuJet aircraft disintegrated on impact or partially lodged itself in the soft, marshy terrain of the Everglades.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
21 Apr. 2026
-
The car completely disintegrated, damaging several other vehicles.—
Jessica Riley,
CBS News,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Pots simmered on the stove with paella, fruit rotted in bowls next to the junk mail, and the pantry was full of old rusted cans of strange unearthly edibles—bamboo shoots and snails in sauce and lemons floating in brine.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 May 2026
-
That last line is a nod for the brain-rotted among us.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
But since sitting vacant, the property has decayed and listed in city property records as unoccupiable.—
Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez,
Charlotte Observer,
18 May 2026
-
And what with all the love and pain, something in me softened—or maybe decayed.—
Eva Wiseman,
Vogue,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Festered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/festered. Accessed 25 May. 2026.
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