Synonyms for rotten
- adjective
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Stinking — bad or terrible
bad, stinking, lousy, stale, malodorous, foul, moldy US, mouldy UK, horrible, terrible, awful, fetid, stinky, horrid, miserable, loathsome, dreadful, icky informal, hideous, horrendous, odious, atrocious, disagreeable
2. Nasty — cruel, mean or immoral
nasty, corrupt, deceitful, malicious, brutal, ruthless, fell, flagitious formal, wicked, vicious, diabolical, nefarious, inhuman, barbarous
3. Putrid — in a state of decay
decayed, putrid, rotted, blighted, carious, putrescent, cankered, forworn dated rare
4. Crumbly — of stone or rock, crumbling or friable; in a loose or disintegrated state
crumbly, crumblesome, frickle
Definitions
- adj. 1
In a state of decay.
His mouth stank and his teeth were rotten.
- adj. 2
Cruel, mean or immoral.
That man is a rotten father.
- adj. 3
Bad or terrible.
She has the flu and feels rotten.
- adj. 4
Of stone or rock, crumbling or friable; in a loose or disintegrated state.
Related words
- Word family
- rottenly rottenness
- Phrases
- rotten apple rotten borough rotten egg gas
- Is a kind of
- contaminated decayed inedible
Example sentences
- horrible Something horrible happened about three hours ago.
- stale Ziri discovered that the birdseed had gone stale.
- stinking The car is stinking. Have you been sleeping in it?
- nasty The child had a nasty cough because he had a cold.
- deceitful I learned the hard way that silence can be deceitful.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| rotten | rising | |
| horrible | rising | |
| stale | rising | |
| stinking | rising | |
| malodorous | steady | |
| nasty | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1
- 4 letters
- high1, fell1, foul1, para2, icky
- 5 letters
- awful2, nasty2, stale1, lousy2, moldy2, fetid2, mucid
- 6 letters
- brutal2, wicked2, horrid2, stinky2, odious3, rotted2, putrid2, mouldy2, munted
- 7 letters
- corrupt2, vicious2, spoiled1, hideous3, inhuman3, decayed2, unsound2, crumbly, carious, forworn, frickle
- 8 letters
- terrible3, horrible3, dreadful2, ruthless2, polluted3, stinking2, blighted2, cankered, maggoted
- 9 letters
- miserable4, malicious3, atrocious3, deceitful3, nefarious4, loathsome2, barbarous3
- 10 letters
- horrendous3, diabolical5, malodorous, putrescent, flagitious
- 11 letters
- crumblesome, peloothered
- 12 letters
- disagreeable5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (para2 = 2 syllables).