1
as in spoiled
having undergone organic breakdown
rotten, smelly meat that should have been thrown out
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
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
3
as in unpleasant
not giving pleasure to the mind or senses
had a rotten time while on vacation
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in horrible
extremely unsatisfactory
rotten housing conditions that no one should be forced to tolerate
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5
as in poor
of low quality
I can't do anything with these rotten tools
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rotten
There is little that has gone right for Tanner Scott this week, the most miserable one in what has been a rotten year in the first season as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ $72 million closer.
—
Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
Due to lawn mower paths, yard football routes my sons had run, and a few rotten tree roots, dips and low spots had developed over time in our yard.
—Rebecca Jones, Southern Living, 11 Sep. 2025
Reinvention assumes the foundation is rotten.
—Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Horrible Bosses When three friends — played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis — regroup after a terrible day at their respective jobs, the fed-up employees drunkenly conspire to murder their seriously rotten employers and attempt to follow through.
—James Mercadante, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rotten
Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
Due to lawn mower paths, yard football routes my sons had run, and a few rotten tree roots, dips and low spots had developed over time in our yard.
—Rebecca Jones, Southern Living, 11 Sep. 2025
Reinvention assumes the foundation is rotten.
—Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Horrible Bosses When three friends — played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis — regroup after a terrible day at their respective jobs, the fed-up employees drunkenly conspire to murder their seriously rotten employers and attempt to follow through.
—James Mercadante, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rotten
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rotten
Adjective
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Their party gets spoiled when a CCTV camera operator calls to inform the police.—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Look who the spoiled brats are, relatively speaking.—
Grant Brisbee,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
If the full release can continue to generate oddly pulse-pounding moments like the near-death rooftop fight with an evil-eyed Pikachu, then Z-A might be worth an extended stay in Lumiose.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
24 Sep. 2025
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The kids discover their small town of Derry is home to an ancient, trans-dimensional evil that awakens every 27 years to prey mostly on children by taking the form of an evil clown named Pennywise.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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But the ever-reliable consumer is beginning to look shaky, courtesy of an unpleasant mix of a stagnating job market and sticky inflation.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
29 Sep. 2025
-
The power is accompanied by a loud, unpleasant exhaust note.—
James Raia,
Mercury News,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Miami could choose to move on from the star receiver due to the horrible season-ending injury.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Sep. 2025
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Many of the game’s best teams spent the regular season alternating between brilliant and horrible.—
Levi Weaver,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
There are 577 bridges in Milwaukee, and only 5% are considered to be in poor condition, according to a new Wisconsin Policy Forum report.—
Anna Kleiber,
jsonline.com,
25 Sep. 2025
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Last week, as financial panic escalated following Milei’s party’s poor showing in local elections, Argentina’s central bank spent more than $1 billion of its foreign currency reserves to keep the peso from collapsing.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
-
Unlike previous seasons, Dorothy never makes immoral choices.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
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This is disgraceful and immoral.—
Armando Garcia,
ABC News,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Many of the people opining and whining about how this moment could be as bad or worse than the 2000 bust are uninformed or ahistorical.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
28 Sep. 2025
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Thankfully, my passport wasn’t stolen, nor was it stranded somewhere in the middle of the rainforest (my worst fear at the time).—
Amelia McBride,
Travel + Leisure,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rotten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rotten. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
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