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Webster 1913 Edition

Rotten

Rot′ten

,
Adj.
[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.
Shakespeare
(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
,
Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition

Rotten

ROTTEN

,
Adj.
rot'n.
1.
Putrid; carious; decomposed by the natural process of decay; as a rotten plank.
2.
Not firm or trusty; unsound; defective in principle; treacherous; deceitful.
3.
Defective in substance; not sound or hard.
4.
Fetid; ill smelling.

Definition 2024

Rotten

Rotten

See also: rotten

German

Noun

Rotten f

  1. plural of Rotte

rotten

rotten

See also: Rotten

English

Adjective

rotten ‎(comparative rottener or more rotten, superlative rottenest or most rotten)

  1. 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.
  2. In a state of decay.
    The floors were damaged and the walls were rotten.
    His mouth stank and his teeth were rotten.
  3. Cruel, mean or immoral.
    That man is a rotten father.
    This rotten policy will create more injustice in this country.
  4. Bad or terrible.
    Why is the weather always rotten in this city?
    It was a rotten idea to take the boat out today.
    She has the flu and feels rotten.

Usage notes

  • Nouns to which “rotten” is often applied: wood, food, egg, meat, fruit, tomato, apple, banana, milk, vegetable, stuff, tooth, smell, person, kid, bastard, scoundrel, weather.

Translations

Adverb

rotten ‎(comparative more rotten, superlative most rotten)

  1. To an extreme degree.
    That kid is spoilt rotten.
    The girls fancy him something rotten.

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch rotten, reformed from earlier roten, from Old Dutch *roton, from Proto-Germanic *rutāną.

Verb

rotten

  1. to rot, to go bad, to decay
Inflection
Inflection of rotten (weak)
infinitive rotten
past singular rotte
past participle gerot
infinitive rotten
gerund rotten n
verbal noun —
present tense past tense
1st person singular rot rotte
2nd person sing. (jij) rot rotte
2nd person sing. (u) rot rotte
2nd person sing. (gij) rot rotte
3rd person singular rot rotte
plural rotten rotten
subjunctive sing.1 rotte rotte
subjunctive plur.1 rotten rotten
imperative sing. rot
imperative plur.1 rot
participles rottend gerot
1) Archaic.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

rotten

  1. Plural form of rot

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

Noun

rotten m, f

  1. definite masculine singular of rotte

Etymology

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 *rutōną ‎(“to rot”). More at rot.

Pronunciation

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