as in decomposition
the process by which dead organic matter separates into simpler substances
the ghastly festering of the corpses abandoned on the battlefield
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in bleeding
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in rotting
to go through decomposition
a week after the battle the corpses of the fallen were still festering in the fields
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of festering
Popular Mechanics, 14 Apr. 2023
For the moment at least, embassies remain open in both capitals despite a festering but unrelated diplomatic spat that has seen the two sides expel dozens of diplomats since 2017.
—chicagotribune.com, 3 Mar. 2022
Adjective
Adding to the festering sense of uncertainty about the enterprise is the principal characters’ embrace of the supernatural.
—Popular Mechanics, 14 Apr. 2023
For the moment at least, embassies remain open in both capitals despite a festering but unrelated diplomatic spat that has seen the two sides expel dozens of diplomats since 2017.
—chicagotribune.com, 3 Mar. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for festering
Verb
-
Then came the yacht’s renaissance by her father, who saw beauty and sailing prowess inside a rotting hull.—
Tristan Rutherford,
Robb Report,
3 Jan. 2025
-
Rotting Flesh and the Skeleton Underneath Eggers wanted the audience almost to smell the rotting flesh when the sarcophagus is flipped open.—
Chris O'Falt,
IndieWire,
2 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Teeth grinding can also cause more cavities to occur as grinding teeth together strips them of some of the protective enamel that could otherwise prevent tooth decay.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
-
All water has some fluoride, but many cities and counties in the state add more to help prevent tooth decay.—
Cindy Krischer Goodman,
Sun Sentinel,
17 May 2025
Adjective
-
Mud puddles are courageous, too, when returning the unblinking, burning gaze of the sky’s white eye.—
contributing Monitor poets,
Christian Science Monitor,
23 Apr. 2025
-
Equal to Tesfaye’s navel-gazing, Shults uses every trick in the music-video playbook to conjure a vivid, ultra-saturated but not quite realistic universe where the Weeknd is a brightly burning sun everyone revolves around.—
Todd Gilchrist,
Variety,
15 May 2025
Noun
-
No episode captures the rot more vividly than the Phala Phala affair, involving Ramaphosa himself.—
Sizwe Mpofu Walsh,
Time,
23 May 2025
-
What Causes Root Rot? Root rot is caused by several different plant pathogens that live in the soil and attack roots.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
10 May 2025
Adjective
-
Penguin Press, June 17 Image El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott After skipping town to evade a nagging creditor in 2008, Harper returns to her Detroit suburb months later to find her two older sisters, once in the throes of debt, sporting fresh highlights and driving a Lexus.—
Laura Thompson,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
-
On the plane, however, they’re both haunted by nagging doubts voiced by the plane’s captain for Sam and a flight attendant for Diane.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
21 May 2025
Verb
-
Is dark matter decaying, or is something decaying into dark matter?—
Big Think,
Big Think,
8 Apr. 2025
-
What fill out the episodes instead are extended zombie-battle scenes and long, silent sequences where people explore gorgeously decaying spaces.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
7 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Hoss — who’s sensual and full of sad, smiling bewilderment without ever disintegrating into ditziness — makes a mature, deeply poignant Ranevskaya.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2025
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Marvel at the firework display of disintegrating foes; revel in your might as a pair of badass demon slayers.—
Lewis Gordon,
Vulture,
19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The direct cost of the tariffs on aerospace is estimated to be as high as $5 Billion, but the real cost is far more pernicious.—
Jerrold Lundquist,
Forbes.com,
30 Mar. 2025
-
Many scandals arise from the occasion of these activities, and adulteries and other outrageous crimes are committed as a clear offence to God, a very serious danger to the souls of those committing them, and a pernicious example to others.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
27 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Festering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/festering. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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