rotten
pronunciation
How to pronounce rotten in British English:
UK [ˈrɒtn]
How to pronounce rotten in American English:
US [ˈrɑːtn]
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- Adjective:
- very bad
- having rotted or disintegrated; usually implies foulness
- damaged by decay; hence unsound and useless
Word Origin
- rotten (adj.)
- c. 1300, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse rotinn "decayed," past participle of verb related to rotna "to decay," from Proto-Germanic stem *rut- (see rot (v.)). Sense of "corrupt" is from late 14c.; weakened sense of "bad" first recorded 1881. Rotten apple is from a saying traced back to at least 1528: "For one rotten apple lytell and lytell putrifieth an whole heape." The Rotten Row in London and elsewhere probably is from a different word, but of uncertain origin.
Example
- 1. Such hatred would be understandable because much of indian politics is rotten .
- 2. Though there are also some foods that are purposely rotten with fungi , like blue cheese and tempeh .
- 3. He had issued a public apology , but the scandal dealt a blow to his image as a clean politician in a rotten system .
- 4. That has endeared her to some of the middle-class urban voters who saw her predecessor as sitting at the top of a particularly rotten tree .
- 5. If that was ever good advice , it is rotten advice now .