What does rotten mean?
Rotten primarily describes food, wood, or other organic material that has decayed, decomposed, or become spoiled. Its figurative uses are at least as common: a person may be called rotten for being dishonest, disloyal, or morally corrupt, while informal contexts use the word for anything regarded as extremely bad, unpleasant, or poorly made. “Rotten luck” similarly expresses the feeling that circumstances have been especially unfair. The word is forceful and sometimes blunt, so it suits emphatic criticism more readily than neutral description. Although its original sense referred to physical decay, rotten has developed into one of the most versatile negative adjectives in English, able to condemn objects, people, institutions, weather, and fortune with equal ease.
adjectiveHaving decomposed or decayed, especially through spoilage or putrefaction. By extension, rotten means morally corrupt, untrustworthy, or, informally, extremely bad or disagreeable.
- Decayed, decomposed, or spoiled, especially through putrefaction.
- Morally corrupt, dishonest, or untrustworthy.
- Informally, very bad, unpleasant, or badly made.
- Informally, extremely unlucky.
"A rotten smell drifted from the neglected refrigerator."
"The bread had grown hard and rotten in the humid pantry."
"His excuse was so rotten that nobody believed a word of it."
"We had rotten weather for the entire holiday."
The word once named decay itself; its journey from spoiled food to a blunt moral insult made it one of English’s most versatile all-purpose condemnations.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does rotten come from?
The adjective entered Middle English from an Old English word associated with decay and putrefaction. It belongs to a Germanic family that also includes Dutch rot and German rot, all reflecting a shared inheritance concerned with rotting or decay. Modern English rot is closely related, although its development was also influenced by the corresponding Old Norse word.
Related word forms
How rotten is actually used
When describing decay, the word can sound emphatic, literary, or deliberately unpleasant. For general criticism it is informal and often blunt, while moral uses such as “rotten organization” convey severe distrust or disapproval.
Easily confused with rotten
Rot is a noun meaning decay or a verb meaning to decay, whereas rotten is an adjective describing something that has decayed or is otherwise very bad.