How to Use rotten in a Sentence

rotten

adjective
  • They did a rotten job.
  • What rotten weather we're having.
  • Then there was the rotten-egg smell.
    — Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 10 June 2026
  • Then, the smell of rotten fish hit.
    — Jerry Wu, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2026
  • Some of it was great, some of it was rotten.
    — Jillian Sederholm, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Dec. 2025
  • There’s no sticky floors or rotten wood smell.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Feb. 2026
  • The smell won’t be as sweet, maybe a little rotten.
    — Jessica Farthing, Southern Living, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Gas leaks in the home can take many forms, and not all of them smell like rotten eggs.
    — Lynn Redmile, Good Housekeeping, 3 Jan. 2023
  • The car looked damaged, was in pieces, and the wood was rotten.
    — Stayton Bonner, Robb Report, 24 Aug. 2025
  • All around there was the pleasant rotten smell of dead fish in open air.
    — Literary Hub, 14 May 2026
  • Thick ice is rotten after rain.
    — Katie Wiseman, IndyStar, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Do the roots look light colored and healthy or dark and smelling sort of rotten?
    — oregonlive, 30 Oct. 2022
  • This smells strongly of rotten eggs.
    — Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 25 Sep. 2025
  • This entire episode just smells rotten.
    — Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 26 Apr. 2026
  • Trim off any rotten-looking roots.
    — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Feb. 2026
  • That the smell of rotten eggs and rotting meat will come out of her kitchen tap again.
    — Sara Sidner, CNN, 25 Mar. 2023
  • Even those at the very top of the rotten pyramid had not escaped.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2022
  • This is produced as the seaweed rots, and smells like rotten eggs.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 14 Mar. 2023
  • Spoiled egg salad will smell sour or have a sulfurous odor like rotten eggs.
    — Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 21 Apr. 2026
  • There’s something rotten in the state of once-great Britain.
    — Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Anyone on the market for a new house over the past six years has had rotten luck.
    — Tristan Bove, Fortune, 29 May 2026
  • In the fall, the adults would find rotten crescents in the harvest.
    — Lizzie Johnson, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2026
  • But when life makes strangers cry, our hearts can go cold — like, throw-a-rotten-tomato cold.
    — New York Times, 8 Feb. 2022
  • Avoid power washing rotten wood or any siding or trim with lead paint.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 13 Oct. 2025
  • The sign was rusted and rotten, giving way to termites and time.
    — Reis Thebault, Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2023
  • This happens to suit a rotten tendency of mine, which is to work rather than play.
    — Jennifer Senior, The Atlantic, 9 Feb. 2022
  • Remove weeds, rotten fruit, and plant debris.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Two rotten potatoes and one rotten onion were found in the walk-in cooler.
    — Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado updated January 23, Sacbee.com, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Quite often, there isn’t more to examine than rotten flesh or mere bones.
    — Jacob Siegal, BGR, 7 Sep. 2022
  • Rotterdammers were none too pleased and threatened to pelt the yacht with rotten eggs.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 10 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rotten.' 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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