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5 dictionary results for: rotten

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

rot·ten

[rot-n] Pronunciation Key

–adjective, -er, -est.

1.	decomposing or decaying; putrid; tainted, foul, or bad-smelling.

2.	corrupt or morally offensive.

3.	wretchedly bad, unpleasant, or unsatisfactory; miserable: a rotten piece of work; a rotten day at the office.

4.	contemptible; despicable: a rotten little liar; a rotten trick.

5.	(of soil, rocks, etc.) soft, yielding, or friable as the result of decomposition.

6.	Australian Slang. drunk.

[Origin: 1175–1225; ME roten < ON rotinn, ptp. of an unrecorded verb meaning “to rot”

]

—Related forms

rot·ten·ly, adverb

rot·ten·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. fetid, rank. 2. immoral. 4. disgusting, unwholesome; treacherous.

—Antonyms 1. sound. 2. moral.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

rot·ten (rŏt'n) Pronunciation Key
adj. rot·ten·er, rot·ten·est

Being in a state of putrefaction or decay; decomposed.
Having a foul odor resulting from or suggestive of decay; putrid.
Made weak or unsound by rot: rotten floorboards.
Morally corrupt or despicable: She's rotten to the core.
Very bad; wretched: rotten weather.

adv. To a very great degree: The child is spoiled rotten.

[Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn.]

rot'ten·ly adv., rot'ten·ness n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rotten

c.1225, from O.N. rotinn "decayed," pp. of verb related to rotna "to decay," from P.Gmc. stem *rut- (see rot). Sense of "corrupt" is from c.1380; weakened sense of "bad" first recorded 1881. Rotter "objectionable person" is recorded from 1894. Rotten apple is from a saying traced back to at least 1528: For one rotten apple lytell and lytell putrifieth an whole heape.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

rotten
adjective
1.	very bad; "a lousy play"; "it's a stinking world" [syn: icky]
2.	damaged by decay; hence unsound and useless; "rotten floor boards"; "rotted beams"; "a decayed foundation" [syn: decayed]
3.	having decayed or disintegrated; usually implies foulness; "dead and rotten in his grave"

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Rotten

Rot"ten\, a. [Icel. rotinn; akin to Sw. rutten, Dan. radden. See Rot.] Having rotted; putrid; decayed; as, a rotten apple; rotten meat. Hence: (a) Offensive to the smell; fetid; disgusting.

You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate As reek of the rotten fens. --Shak. (b) Not firm or trusty; unsound; defective; treacherous; unsafe; as, a rotten plank, bone, stone. "The deepness of the rotten way." --Knolles.

Rotten borough. See under Borough.

Rotten stone (Min.), a soft stone, called also Tripoli (from the country from which it was formerly brought), used in all sorts of finer grinding and polishing in the arts, and for cleaning metallic substances. The name is also given to other friable siliceous stones applied to like uses.

Syn: Putrefied; decayed; carious; defective; unsound; corrupt; deceitful; treacherous. -- Rot"ten*ly, adv. -- Rot"ten*ness, n.

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