1
as in deteriorates
to become worse or of less value
the house slowly fell into disrepair and rotted
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in decomposes
to go through decomposition
rotting vegetation on the bank of the river
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 rots
If Britain continues down the path of criminalizing thought and prayer, the alliance risks being reduced to polite diplomacy while its moral core rots away.
—
Lois McLatchie Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
Lois McLatchie Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rots
Verb
-
The Backyard cast also features Katie MacNichol as Gladys’ daughter Ellen, Alexander Ameen as Ellen’s husband Howard, and William Huffaker as a young painter from Boston named Don Bowman whom Gladys seeks to help even as her mental state deteriorates.—
David L. Coddon,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Nov. 2025
-
As the situation deteriorates, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany among others have urged their nationals to leave Bamako.—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
2 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Return nutrients back to the soil Fallen leaves and other plant debris act as a natural mulch, which slowly decomposes over the winter.—
Chris McKeown,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
18 Oct. 2025
-
When leaves fall to the ground, the carbon stays in these leaves, breaks down, and decomposes and releases nutrients back into the soil that plants can take in.—
Saleen Martin,
USA Today,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Toby’s display, overall, looks a lot nicer, but when Paul goes to take a slice of his cake from the chocolate case, the whole thing crumbles to a mess.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
3 Oct. 2025
-
At times, the house would break apart onstage, with the top half lifted in the air, only for YoungBoy to start aggressively rapping, standing supreme while the house crumbles around him.—
Jayson Buford,
Rolling Stone,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
While the missile could, in theory, bypass missile defenses, each test risks radioactive fallout if the reactor disintegrates during flight or on impact.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Ethan Hawke stars as Lorenz Hart of legendary songsmiths Rodgers & Hart as the prolific partnership disintegrates to his great dismay.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Carol is casually chatting with her manager and romantic partner, Helen (Miriam Shor), when the pathogen descends on everyone, creating a horrific scene of silent, seizing bodies.—
Erin Qualey,
Vulture,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Regardless, this film also boasts a oner for the ages, as a raincoat mafia descends upon a rave and a pair of bloodthirsty lovers.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The most common isotope, plutonium-239, is produced when the most common isotope of uranium, uranium-238, absorbs a neutron and then quickly decays to plutonium.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Oct. 2025
-
The heartwood in the tree’s center decays first and makes for easy excavating.—
Madison Dapcevich,
Outside,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Sixteen million people risk losing all food assistance even as global hunger worsens.—
ARIF HUSAIN,
Foreign Affairs,
11 Nov. 2025
-
Others may find that dairy worsens their symptoms, possibly due to its high fat content.—
Merve Ceylan,
Health,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
To confront vaquita declines, in 2019 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species established an agreement to help eliminate supply and demand for totoabas and help remove gill nets from the upper Gulf of California.—
Ryan Green,
Scientific American,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Then if a player who declines a qualifying offer signs elsewhere, their new team must forfeit at least one draft pick and their previous team is granted one as compensation.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rots.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rots. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share