# rotten

/ˈɹɑtən/ (US) · /ɹˈɒtən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/rotten
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. decayed food

adjective · CEFR B1

decayed and no longer good to eat or use.

For teachers: suffering from organic decay; decomposed or putrid.

- The smell of rotten eggs filled the kitchen after the power cut.
- The farmer had to discard the entire harvest of apples after a damp autumn left them rotten and covered in mould.

### 2. bad or unpleasant

adjective · CEFR B1 · Informal

very bad, unpleasant, or unfair.

For teachers: extremely unpleasant, poor in quality, or morally contemptible.

- I felt rotten about missing my best friend's birthday party.
- It was a rotten trick to play on someone who had been so consistently helpful to the team.

### 3. very drunk

adjective · CEFR C1 · Slang · British English

extremely drunk.

For teachers: highly intoxicated by alcohol.

- He came home feeling absolutely rotten after the office party.
- By the time the pub closed, half the rugby team were completely rotten and had to be helped into taxis.

### 4. to an extreme degree

adverb · CEFR B2 · Informal

very much or to a great degree, usually with words like 'spoiled'.

For teachers: used as an intensifier to indicate an extreme or excessive degree.

- That cat is spoiled rotten and refuses to eat anything but fresh fish.
- As the only grandchild in the family, she was spoiled rotten by her grandparents every summer holiday.

Usage: Almost exclusively used in the fixed phrase 'spoiled rotten'.

## Examples

- The kitchen smells because of those rotten apples.
- The wooden fence collapsed because the posts were rotten from years of heavy rain.
- The investigation revealed a rotten core within the local government, where systemic bribery had been ignored for decades by those in power.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.