rotten

Etymology

From Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn (“decayed, rotten”), past participle of an unrecorded verb related to Old Norse rotna (“to rot”) and Old English rotian (“to rot”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”). More at rot. Morphologically rot + -en.

adj

1. Of perishable items, overridden with bacteria and other infectious agents.
   If you leave a bin unattended for a few weeks, the rubbish inside will turn rotten.
2. In a state of decay.
   The floors were damaged and the walls were rotten.
   His mouth stank and his teeth were rotten.
3. Cruel, mean or immoral.
   That man is a rotten father.
   This rotten policy will create more injustice in this country.
4. Bad or terrible.
   Why is the weather always rotten in this city?
   It was a rotten idea to take the boat out today.
   She has the flu and feels rotten.
5. Of stone or rock, crumbling or friable; in a loose or disintegrated state.
   The quartz specimens were sometimes blue, hard-looking stone, or rotten quartz largely impregnated with iron, in both cases carrying bright glittering nodules of gold. 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 215
6. (UK, Australia, slang) Very drunk, intoxicated.

adv

1. To an extreme degree.
   That kid is spoilt rotten.
   The girls fancy him something rotten.