How to Use putrid in a Sentence

putrid

adjective
  • Maria put on a mask against the putrid smell and lay down on the ground.
    — Philip Wang, Time, 29 June 2026
  • Their combined breath in the car seems putrid.
    — Literary Hub, 9 Mar. 2026
  • The smoke plume turned the skies above the town a putrid, pallid orange.
    — Jeffrey Ball, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2021
  • The corpse’s skin had turned from its normal pale color to a putrid orange.
    — Chicago Tribune, 6 Oct. 2022
  • And in the past decade, the talent level has been downright putrid.
    — Peter Dawson, star-telegram, 17 May 2018
  • If there’s a mangy cat prowling around or the barbicide looks putrid, get out of there.
    — Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 18 July 2018
  • But the third down defense is downright putrid, and the pass defense hasn’t been great.
    — oregonlive, 5 Nov. 2021
  • Liz Lescault serves on a platter a putrid meal of a gun, bullet shells and clay worms.
    — Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2019
  • Live fish are dead and rotting in their tanks now, their heads rising just above the putrid water.
    — Phil McCausland, NBC News, 23 Apr. 2022
  • One fruit, the durian, emits such a putrid smell that it has been banned in some hotels, the display says.
    — Janet Morrissey, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2017
  • With this putrid article and a basin of once-clear water all the wounds in the ward were washed in turn twice a day.
    — John J. Ross, WSJ, 13 Oct. 2017
  • The group was putrid in pass blocking, with Simpson getting sacked five times.
    — Matt Stahl | [email protected], al, 17 Sep. 2023
  • What lay on the pillow was a charnel-house, a heap of pus and blood, a shovelful of putrid flesh.
    — Namwali Serpell, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022
  • And, all of a sudden, that putrid defense was posting ratings among the league’s best.
    — Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
  • There’s also a slight scent which some may say is mildly floral, but may be a bit putrid to others.
    — Rachel Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Aug. 2025
  • The problem has only grown in that time, which neighbors say has caused a rat problem and a putrid stench.
    — Tara Lynch, CBS News, 3 June 2026
  • Huge swaths of empty seats in the camera lens from the torrid heat and putrid performance.
    — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Sep. 2022
  • The humpback whale exhales with a grunt, emitting a putrid whiff of stomach acid and decay.
    — National Geographic, 6 Dec. 2016
  • Two touchdowns against the worse defense in the NFL is putrid.
    — George Diaz, OrlandoSentinel.com, 6 Oct. 2017
  • There was going to be some good stuff there, and the vampire of folklore is a putrid, walking undead corpse.
    — William Earl, Variety, 26 Dec. 2024
  • Kansas City’s offense was pretty putrid the entire night, but the game came down to the wire.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 26 Dec. 2025
  • The smell of mold and algae, silt packed on the floors, putrid refrigerators that beached in odd rooms like dead whales.
    — Joe Mozingo, chicagotribune.com, 7 Sep. 2017
  • In the park, dozens of bodies lay lifeless in the grass; many homeless young people were camped out among mounds of trash and amid a putrid smell.
    — Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 27 May 2021
  • The Cavs’ struggles and putrid defense hurt James’s case, but that team would fall apart without him.
    — The Si Staff, SI.com, 19 Jan. 2018
  • Justin Herbert tried to stand 6-feet-6 in his team’s putrid urine-yellow uniform.
    — Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Reports of the putrid smell have been flooding in from residents across the South Bay for weeks.
    — Joshua Emerson Smith, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Apr. 2021
  • The offense as a whole was putrid, but quarterback Blake Shapen was far from solid in this one.
    — Michael Haag, Dallas News, 12 Nov. 2022
  • Such putrid circumstances promise a grim tale, but this is a book by James McBride.
    — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 3 Aug. 2023
  • The Rams’ best hope is for their mediocre defense to come up with some turnovers and have their putrid offense win a low-scoring game.
    — Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press, 7 Jan. 2023
  • The lineup is still mostly putrid, and Greene has missed all of June with a stress fracture in his fibula.
    — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 29 June 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'putrid.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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