I. ˈrät ə n adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn; akin to Old English rotian to rot — more at rot
1.
a. : having rotted : decayed, putrid
people who are dead and rotten in their graves — Mary Deasy
a rotten tomato
a little paint on a rotten house — Eric Linklater
some granites are exceedingly rotten — K.A.Henderson
rotten ice
b. obsolete : characterized by rot
the rotten diseases of the South — Shakespeare
2.
a. : morally corrupt
people … have become aware of something rotten in our democracy — Garrett Mattingly
his heart … went rotten with vanity — Maurice Cranston
b. : very badly behaved : spoiled
a rotten child
3.
a. of a sheep : affected with rot
b. : causing or characteristic of rot in sheep
4. : extremely unpleasant : disagreeable
a rotten day
a rotten humor
soldiering is a rotten job — J.O.Hannay
it's rotten waiting for things — John Galsworthy
5. : marked by weakness or unsoundness
a commando group whose special operations are canceled one after another until the group goes rotten — Curtis Bradford
6. : very uncomfortable (as from sickness or low spirits)
caught a cold and felt rotten
was looking rotten
7. : marked by extremely poor quality : abominable
a rotten book
paid $50 for rotten seats — Barnaby Conrad
rotten luck
a rotten failure
• rot·ten·ly - ə nlē, -li adverb
• rot·ten·ness - ə n(n)ə̇s noun -es
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
chiefly dialect : rot