PUTREFACTION Synonyms: 18 Similar and Opposite Words

putrefaction

noun

ˌpyü-trə-ˈfak-shən

Definition of putrefaction

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

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of putrefaction Likely only dead individuals, floating as gases formed by putrefaction accumulated in body cavities, entered the lagoon. — David Bressan, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025 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 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

Maintain Compost Bins Compost piles need to be kept damp in order to accelerate organic decomposition.

— SJ McShane, Martha Stewart, 3 July 2026
Authorities also found numerous dead animals in advanced stages of decomposition, including hundreds of chickens that investigators said had been discarded in bags and fed to the dogs, according to The Straits Times and The Standard.

— Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 2 July 2026