''putrid'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260717141042-00-⌔

putrid - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adjective

putrid (comparative more putrid, superlative most putrid)

• Rotting, rotten, being in a state of putrefaction. [from 14th c.]
  • ✤ * putrid flesh; putrid matter; putrid meat*
  • ✤ Quake guzzell dogs, that live on putrid slime.¹
  • ✤ […] vast quantities of putrid whale flesh were blasted into the sky²
• Of, relating to, or characteristic of putrefaction, especially having a bad smell, like that of rotting flesh.
  • ✤ Synonym: malodorous
  • ✤ * putrid smell; putrid odor*
• Vile, disgusting.
• Morally corrupt.
• Totally objectionable.

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French putride or directly from Latin putridus (“rotten, decayed”), from putreō (“to be rotten or putrid”), from puter (“rotten, decaying, putrid”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈpjuː.tɹɪd/
• (General American) IPA: /ˈpju.tɹəd/
• Audio (Received Pronunciation): 🔊

Printed 2026-07-17.

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Footnotes

1. 1599, W. Kinsayder or Theriomastix [pseudonyms; John Marston], The Scourge of Villanie. […], London: […] I[ames] R[oberts], →OCLC; republished as G[eorge] B[agshawe] Harrison, editor, The Scourge of Villanie (The Bodley Head Quartos; 13), London: John Lane, The Bodley Head […]; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Company, 1925, →OCLC: ↩

2. 2020 December, Dave Barry, Year in review: ↩