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rotting 1 of 3

adjective

as in rotted

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rotting

2 of 3

noun

as in decay

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rotting

3 of 3

verb

present participle of rot
1
as in deteriorating
to become worse or of less value the house slowly fell into disrepair and rotted

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in decomposing
to go through decomposition rotting vegetation on the bank of the river

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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 rotting
Verb
The fire’s aftermath was just as bad, with cleanup crews having to contend with removing 89 million pounds of thawing, rotting meat, debris and other material. — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026 Trim away any soft or rotting roots with a clean, sharp knife. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2026 The zombie – slow moving, with sallow complexion, hollow eyes, rotting teeth and a hunger for human flesh – has been lumbering through Hollywood movies for decades now. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 15 Sep. 2026 The next night, at around four o’clock in the morning, the wind in lower Manhattan shifted and the smell of rotting flesh came through the window of my apartment, a little more than a mile northeast of Ground Zero. — Peter Wilkinson, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026 Gadgets with screens of any size have long been allegedly melting, rotting, and/or corrupting the brains of youths for decades. — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026 Flies buzz over the rotting carcass, which is riven by claw marks so unnaturally deep that no one can determine whomauledit. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026 The government still has not come up with a solution to the mountainous piles of rotting garbage that accumulate on the streets for months. — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 31 Aug. 2026 Its paint was peeling, clapboards were rotting, and a tarp covered a leaking roof, according to the Times. — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rotting
  1. rotted
  2. decay
  3. deteriorating
  4. decomposing
  5. decaying
  6. crumbling
  7. worsening
  8. disintegrating
Adjective
  • Inspect fences and perform any repairs or maintenance, such as reinforcing posts or replacing rotted sections.
    — BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026
  • Many grapes become too rotted and are left to wither away.
    — John Mariani, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of rotted
Noun
  • Turning from Howard Street, drivers could easily think Hamilton is just a squalid dead-end or a route to more decay.
    — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026
  • However, since a Higgs boson does not have a spin of its own, the two Z bosons formed during its decay cannot have any odd combinations of spins.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of decay
Verb
  • The latest contingent is arriving as Haiti confronts a deteriorating security and humanitarian environment and struggles to organize its first general elections in more than a decade.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The company’s financial position had been deteriorating for several years.
    — Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of deteriorating
Verb
  • Maintain The Lawn Lovebugs lay their eggs in moist, decomposing materials.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Fifteen months later, 56 decomposing bodies were found at their South Chicago Chapel.
    — Susana Mendoza, Chicago Tribune, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of decomposing
Adjective
  • Liberal critics, however, argued—also rightly—that the Soviet Union was a decaying, economically crippled giant by the time Reagan was inaugurated.
    — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 2026
  • The district also could be in for other major changes in the coming years, including the opening of a few new schools to replace multiple decaying, underenrolled schools.
    — Scott Travis, Miami Herald, 15 May 2026
Definition of decaying
Noun
  • Besides preventing mold and mildew, cleaning will also reduce unpleasant odors and prevent cracking and crumbling of your seal.
    — Caroline Lubinsky, Martha Stewart, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The rest of the world is watching the crumbling of America’s economic relationship with its closest trading partner, and an administration that is calling into question the sanctity of free trade agreements generally.
    — Kate Nishimura, Footwear News, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of crumbling
Verb
  • In an era of worsening doctor shortages and an aging population, the ability to retain and re-energize good physicians may be the most underrated cost lever in all of healthcare.
    — Aric Coffman, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Looking to the future As polar ice disappears and sea levels continue to rise, concerns over the continuing and worsening repercussions of climate change continue to grow.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of worsening
Verb
  • Scott’s face, in this shot, is a whole novel, disintegrating into tears before being shored up again, eventually rearranged into something resembling a welcoming smile that teeters on the edge of collapse.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2026
  • The 110-floor south tower, struck shortly after the north tower by another plane, was disintegrating.
    — Diane Herbst, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of disintegrating

Browse Nearby Words

rotters
rotting
rotund
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Cite this Entry

“Rotting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rotting. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

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