putrescent
/pjuːˈtrɛs(ə)nt
/adjective
Undergoing the process of decay; rotting: the odour of putrescent flesh...
- If you want to sample this putrescent variety of Shakespeare, go for ‘Measure,’ which is clearer, better written, and more ferocious.
- For idleness does, in all cases, inevitably rot, and become putrescent; - and I say deliberately, the very Devil is in it.
- Within these putrescent pools, black pycniospores fuse to form hyphae growing toward the opposite leaf surface.
Synonyms
decaying, rotting, putrefying, decomposing, festering, going bad, going off
rare putrefactive, putrefacient
Derivatives
putrescence
- Altogether these produced a breakdown in the cellular structure of the body, evident in the putrescence of the flesh and bones of sufferers.
- Textually, his ‘work’ orchestrates a cacophony of human ruin and putrescence.
- He was so close that I could smell putrescence coming from him.
Origin
Mid 18th century: from Latin putrescent- 'beginning to go rotten', inceptive of putrere 'to rot' (see putrid).