as in rot
a pervasive moral or social decay
a society beset by moral gangrene
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Recent Examples of gangrene
One of the more serious symptoms of diabetes is foot ulcers, which can go largely unnoticed, turn into a blister, and develop into gangrene or sepsis before requiring an amputation.
—
Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Sep. 2025
The ulcerated area might be getting so little blood that the tissue itself begins to die, known as gangrene.
—Ruth Jessen Hickman, Md, Verywell Health, 10 Apr. 2025
At one site in Lancaster, a 69-year-old man being treated for gangrene died after a nurse gave him a four-drug cocktail that included the painkiller Norco and the sedative Ativan, state investigators reported.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2025
To stave off gangrene, Batzer had a thumb, several fingers, a foot, and a portion of one leg amputated.
—Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for gangrene
Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Sep. 2025
The ulcerated area might be getting so little blood that the tissue itself begins to die, known as gangrene.
—Ruth Jessen Hickman, Md, Verywell Health, 10 Apr. 2025
At one site in Lancaster, a 69-year-old man being treated for gangrene died after a nurse gave him a four-drug cocktail that included the painkiller Norco and the sedative Ativan, state investigators reported.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2025
To stave off gangrene, Batzer had a thumb, several fingers, a foot, and a portion of one leg amputated.
—Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for gangrene
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gangrene
Noun
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Any wood will do; however, cedar, black locust, and white oak are the most rot-resistant.—
Luke Miller,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 Mar. 2026
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Still, the rot always starts at the edges and previously tame public corporate debt spreads have leaked wider.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Xi in recent years has supercharged an effort aimed at rooting out military corruption — since 2022, some 100 top officers have been dismissed or sidelined, a recent study estimated.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
3 Mar. 2026
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Political parties have pledged to amplify the voices of younger voters, promising to tackle corruption and improve governance.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Why does their desire to hurt the American president politically trump their desire to assist the Iranian people achieve a new future for their children, free from the evil of the current regime?—
Chris Roemer,
Baltimore Sun,
5 Mar. 2026
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Blood Meridian throws out the Western trope of good versus evil in favor of a nihilist view of a world consumed by violence.—
Carolina A. Miranda,
The Atlantic,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The result has been a rapid and systematic degradation of Iran’s clout across the Middle East over the past 2½ years, a seismic change that led directly to this weekend’s devastating attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel.—
Adam Geller,
Fortune,
2 Mar. 2026
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Aquatic plants, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and other wildlife are harmed by water quality degradation from road salt treatments, which have further impacts on the local ecosystem (and human health, when our water supply gets saltier).—
Miri Talabac,
Baltimore Sun,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Denver author Josiah Hesse was raised by Evangelical parents in churches that believe in the torments of hell, that their poverty is due to their sinfulness and lack of faith.—
Sandra Dallas,
Denver Post,
1 Feb. 2026
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This lawless crew shares dramaturgical DNA with the vice figures from medieval morality plays, personifications of sinfulness who would confide their schemes to the audience and make theatergoers their co-conspirators in a riveting game that obviously left its mark on a young Shakespeare.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Jan. 2026
Noun
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After its seemingly benign opening, the movie captures the appalling conditions under which the inmates are kept, with unblinking scenes of bullying, force feeding, strip searches and squalor.—
Chloe Veltman,
NPR,
16 Feb. 2026
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Many came from grinding poverty and squalor.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Courteney Cox‘s dogged reporter/stand-in for media immorality Gale Weathers will naturally be on the scene once again, as well a host of recurring characters, fan favorites, and old faces from all six of the previous entries.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
27 Feb. 2026
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This approach can be applied to any behavior, including crime and immorality.—
Christopher M. Filley,
The Conversation,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Little filth flies such as drain flies breed in sludge and decaying matter that can build up in drain pipes, says Oi.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
4 Mar. 2026
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Then again, the transcript of his halftime show was pure raunch and filth.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gangrene.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gangrene. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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