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as in evil
not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable played a rotten trick and then lied about it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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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 rotten Spoiling means that a food or drink becomes rotten, usually due to aging or unsafe storage. Heidi Moawad, Verywell Health, 21 Oct. 2025 Across almost 20 novels, the British author spun fantastical tales with unsentimental wit, infusing his work with darkly morbid humor, blithe child endangerment, rotten and antagonistic adults, and a willingness to occasionally laugh at the misfortune of others. Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2025 And rotten loans do not stay within the banking sector. Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2025 Lit candles, images on paper and a plaster statue of the folk saint Gauchito Gil, flowers in green plastic bottles, simple bouquets of jasmine floating in rotten water inside coffee cans, a lot of plastic flowers to keep the place colorful. Mariana Enriquez october 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for rotten
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rotten
Adjective
  • With an increasing amount of people choosing to get pets instead of having children, furbabies across the country are becoming more and more spoiled.
    Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Following her time playing the eldest Banks (and the most spoiled) child, Parsons acted in shows like Lush Life and The Job, and in films like The Ladies Man and 13 Moons.
    Andrea Wurzburger, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Like terrestrial monsters, evil aliens are often stand-ins for real-life anxieties.
    Alan Bradley, Space.com, 8 Nov. 2025
  • Thia was sent to this dread planet by the Weyland-Yutani corporation, the famously evil entity that haunts most of the Alien movies.
    Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Its natural deodorizing properties help neutralize the unpleasant smells associated with pets, according to Stein.
    Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 1 Nov. 2025
  • The 75-year-old ginkgo trees have been wafting the unpleasant smell into the air at the Northern California park, forcing residents to brave the stench that is comparable to vomit, The Sacramento Bee and SFGATE report.
    Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The groundbreaking research penetrated the last moments of the young nobleman, who suffered a terrible 26 blows.
    Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 10 Nov. 2025
  • History is full of cases where great bands make terrible records, yet history stands speechless at what the Clash accomplished here.
    Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • The Ministry of Environment blamed this year’s surge on a poor acorn harvest – which drove a similar spate of attacks in 2023.
    Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Rather, the slow start (by Ovechkin’s standards) to this season seemed due more to poor puck luck.
    Sean Gentille, New York Times, 6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Of the 20 dead cats, eight were too decayed for a necropsy exam, which determines the cause of death of a dead animal and any associated diseases or injuries.
    Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The breakthrough came when researchers focused on coelomic fluid, the internal liquid surrounding the sea stars’ organs, rather than tissue from decayed specimens.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Still, the idea that Americans came together to help freedom seekers in the face of immoral laws offers hope for America’s truest ideals.
    Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 10 Nov. 2025
  • That suits its otherworldly and somewhat formal tone, which takes viewers deep into Japan’s mythical past for a quartet of eerie tales about lonely ghosts and vengeful spirits who bring supernatural justice to selfish and immoral humans.
    Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Iran is facing its worst drought in decades, raising fears of evacuations in Tehran while threatening the regime’s stability and nuclear ambitions, according to a leading environmental expert.
    Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Keeping bad things out of my body.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Rotten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rotten. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.

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