rotten

UK/ˈɹɒtn̩/US/ˈɹɑtn̩/

adjectiveB13 meanings Very common — you will meet it every day · #1,686 of 15,258neutral

Rotten means decayed and no longer fit to eat or use. A rotten apple, rotten wood, the smell of rotten food.

It applies to organic things that have broken down — fruit, wood, teeth — and the smell is part of the meaning. Informally it means very bad or unkind: a rotten trick, feeling rotten, rotten luck. And of an institution it means corrupt: rotten to the core. Note one rotten apple spoils the barrel, which is used about people rather than fruit, and that rotten is the old past participle of rot, which is why it has no -ed.

Definitions of rotten

1adjectiverottenDecayed and no longer fit to eat or use.B1
“Half the floorboards were rotten underneath.”
- Said"Those tomatoes are rotten; I'd throw them out before they spoil the rest."
- WrittenA rotten smell came from the bin, and nobody would admit to the fish.
- UsedRemove rotten fruit from the bowl at once, or the mould spreads.
- ContrastRotten, not old. Old bread is dry and still bread; rotten food is soft, dark and gone. old →
- Not thisA bruised apple is not rotten. Rotten is when it has begun to break down and stink.
- SimplyThe egg is rotten. Do not eat it.
Patternrotten + noun (egg, fruit, wood) · go rotten · a rotten smell · rot / rotting
synonyms: spoiled, decayed, putrid
2adjectivebadVery bad or unkind.B2
“That was a rotten thing to say to her.”
3adjectivedeeplyDeeply corrupt.C1
“The whole department was rotten and everybody knew it.”

rotten is a state of decay.

Also accepted in games: spoiled

Remember it

ROTten → the ROT has got in

It has rot in the middle, and so does the apple: soft, brown, and not fit to eat.

Where it comes from

Old Norse rotinn is the past participle of the verb that gave English rot, borrowed whole rather than built here. That is why rotten is irregular: English took the finished Norse participle instead of making rotted from its own verb.

Proto-Germanic
*rutāną — to rot
Old Norse
rotinn — decayed, rotten
Middle English
roten
English, today
rotten

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, en + rot + en.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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Definitions of rotten

1adjectiverottenDecayed and no longer fit to eat or use.B1

“Half the floorboards were rotten underneath.”

Said"Those tomatoes are rotten; I'd throw them out before they spoil the rest."
WrittenA rotten smell came from the bin, and nobody would admit to the fish.
UsedRemove rotten fruit from the bowl at once, or the mould spreads.
ContrastRotten, not old. Old bread is dry and still bread; rotten food is soft, dark and gone. old →
Not thisA bruised apple is not rotten. Rotten is when it has begun to break down and stink.
SimplyThe egg is rotten. Do not eat it.

Patternrotten + noun (egg, fruit, wood) · go rotten · a rotten smell · rot / rotting

synonyms: spoiled, decayed, putrid

2adjectivebadVery bad or unkind.B2

“That was a rotten thing to say to her.”

3adjectivedeeplyDeeply corrupt.C1

“The whole department was rotten and everybody knew it.”

rotten is a state of decay.

Also accepted in games: spoiled