rotten

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɹɑtn̩/ UK /ˈɹɒtn̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #3342

Meanings

1

adj
Decayed and no longer fit to eat or use, especially of food.

The apples at the bottom of the basket had gone rotten.
2

adj
In a state of decay; soft and falling apart.

The old wooden floorboards were rotten and unsafe.
3

adj
Very bad or unpleasant.

We had rotten weather for the whole holiday.
4

adj
Cruel, mean, or unkind.

It was a rotten thing to say to your sister.
5

adv
To an extreme degree; thoroughly.

Their grandparents spoil the kids rotten.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · decayed and no longer fit... spoiled decayed putrid

2 adj · in a state of decay; soft... decayed

3 adj · very bad or unpleasant. awful lousy

4 adj · cruel, mean, or unkind. cruel

More badmaggoted

Opposites

edible fresh unspoiled

Word family

Forms rottenness

Derived forms rottenedrottenishrottenlyrottennessrottenstoneunrotten

Related forms fermentedsaprogenicstale

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

rotten borough
a historical parliamentary constituency with very few voters and disproportionate representation

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

One bad apple spoils the barrel
Matching variant: One rotten apple spoils the barrel

Etymology

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).

roten Middle English rotinn Old Norse *rutāną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# rotten

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, adv
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹɑtn̩/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɹɒtn̩/
**Frequency rank:** 3342

## Meanings
1. Decayed and no longer fit to eat or use, especially of food.
2. In a state of decay; soft and falling apart.
3. Very bad or unpleasant.
4. Cruel, mean, or unkind.
5. To an extreme degree; thoroughly.

## Examples
- The apples at the bottom of the basket had gone rotten.
- The old wooden floorboards were rotten and unsafe.
- We had rotten weather for the whole holiday.
- It was a rotten thing to say to your sister.
- Their grandparents spoil the kids rotten.

## Synonyms
- bad
- maggoted
- spoiled

## Antonyms
- edible
- fresh
- unspoiled

## Derived Forms
- rottened
- rottenish
- rottenly
- rottenness
- rottenstone
- unrotten

## Related Forms
- fermented
- saprogenic
- stale

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: roten
- Root: rotinn
- Root: *rutāną

## Etymology
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).

## AI Etymology
Rotten comes 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). Modern senses include decayed and no longer fit to eat or use, especially of food. and in a state of decay; soft and falling apart.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as rottened, rottenish, rottenly, rottenness, rottenstone, and unrotten and related forms such as fermented, saprogenic, and stale.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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