as in decomposition
the process by which dead organic matter separates into simpler substances
clearing the refrigerator of what the previous tenant had left behind was like taking a course in the advanced putrefaction of leftovers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 putrefaction
When the surgeons finally opened her with a piece of broken glass, the putrefaction was as warm as life.
—
Nell Zink, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
Kellogg’s thinking on constipation, that anything less than three bowel movements a day risked dangerous intestinal putrefaction, was shaped by the emerging germ theory of disease and the ascent of bacteriology as a discipline through the closing decades of the 19th century.
—Elsa Richardson, TIME, 3 Oct. 2024
Here was an artist drawn irresistibly to executions and corpses, dismemberment and putrefaction.
—airmail.news, 20 Apr. 2024
Not the smell of putrefaction, though the novel is littered with rotting corpses.
—Nathaniel Rich, The New York Review of Books, 30 Nov. 2023
See All Example Sentences for putrefaction
Nell Zink, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
Kellogg’s thinking on constipation, that anything less than three bowel movements a day risked dangerous intestinal putrefaction, was shaped by the emerging germ theory of disease and the ascent of bacteriology as a discipline through the closing decades of the 19th century.
—Elsa Richardson, TIME, 3 Oct. 2024
Here was an artist drawn irresistibly to executions and corpses, dismemberment and putrefaction.
—airmail.news, 20 Apr. 2024
Not the smell of putrefaction, though the novel is littered with rotting corpses.
—Nathaniel Rich, The New York Review of Books, 30 Nov. 2023
See All Example Sentences for putrefaction
Recent Examples of Synonyms for putrefaction
Noun
-
In addition, warmer water temperatures and the decomposition of organic material can promote bacterial growth.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
19 Mar. 2026
-
But when it’s placed in a landfill, its decomposition emits significant greenhouse gases.—
Ahmed Ibrahim Yunus,
The Conversation,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Many cracked and leaked from decades of decay, letting rain in and worsening backups that surge through maintenance hole covers, drain into city rivers and flow into basements.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
10 Mar. 2026
-
That debt has been settled in full by five decades of theocratic brutality and economic decay.—
Karim Sadjadpour,
The Atlantic,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Putrefaction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/putrefaction. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
