rotten

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rotten

/ˈɹɒtn̩/ UK
/ˈɹɑtn̩/ US
[ˈɹɑʔn̩] US

Rhymes with -ɒtən

Where it comes from

From Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn (“decayed, rotten”), past participle of an unrecorded verb related to Old Norse rotna (“to rot”) and Old English rotian (“to rot”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”). See rot. By surface analysis, rot + -en (past participle).

adjective rottener · more rotten · rottenest · most rotten

Of perishable items, overridden with bacteria and other infectious agents. If you leave a bin unattended for a few weeks, the rubbish inside will turn rotten.
Similar: gone bad, maggoted, spoiled
In a state of decay. The floors were damaged and the walls were rotten.
Similar: blighted, forworn, putrid, cankered, decayed, dotterel, moldering, rotten, putrefacient, putrefactive, putrescent
Cruel, mean or immoral. That man is a rotten father.
Similar: fell, malicious, ruthless, barbarous, bowelless, brutal, compassionless, cruel, flagitious, demonic, despiteful, diabolic
Bad or terrible. Why is the weather always rotten in this city?
Similar: awful, foul, horrible, abysmal, atrocious, bad, chronic, coarse, corny, crap, crapalicious, crappy
Of stone or rock, crumbling or friable; in a loose or disintegrated state. The quartz specimens were sometimes blue, hard-looking stone, or rotten quartz largely impregnated with iron, in both cases carrying bright glittering nodules of gold.
Similar: crumbly, crumblesome, frickle
Australia, Ireland, UK, slang Very drunk, intoxicated.
Similar: munted, para, peloothered, Adrian Quist, adrip, aled up, all mops and brooms, arseholed, a sheet in the wind, a sheet in the wind's eye, bedrunken, befuddled

Similar: bad, gone bad, gone off, maggoted, rotten, spoiled · Opposite: edible, fresh, unspoiled

adverb more rotten · most rotten

To an extreme degree. That kid is spoilt rotten.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: decayed, rotting, rotted, mouldering, tainted, putrid, putrescent, crappy, icky, shitty, lousy, bad, unsound, stinking, stinky, corrupt

adjective

Similar: bad, gone bad, gone off, maggoted, rotten, spoiled · Opposite: edible, fresh, unspoiled

Translations

Every language

adj decayed, gone bad

Español	podrido, estropeado, carcomido
한국어	썩다 sseokda
日本語	腐った kusatta, 腐朽した fukyū shita
中文	腐爛 /腐烂 fǔlàn, 腐朽 fǔxiǔ
हिन्दी	सड़ा saṛā
Português	podre
Français	pourri
Deutsch	faul, faulig, verfault, morsch, vergammelt, verdorben
Italiano	marcito, marcio
Ελληνικά	σάπιος sápios, σαθρός sathrós
Română	putred, putregăios
Русский	гнило́й gnilój, ту́хлый túxlyj
Tiếng Việt	mục, rữa
العربية	فَاسِد fāsid

adj cruel, mean or immoral

Español	putrefacto
Português	cruel, malvado
Français	mauvais
Deutsch	scheußlich, gemein, mies, niederträchtig, hundsgemein
Italiano	malvagio
Ελληνικά	φαύλος fávlos
Русский	га́дкий gádkij

adj bad or terrible

Deutsch	saumäßig, schlecht, schlimm

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MLA

"rotten." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rotten. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rotten. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rotten

Chicago

"rotten." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rotten.

BibTeX

@misc{rotten_2026,
  title = {rotten},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rotten},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}