festering
adjective
fes·ter·ing ˈfe-st(ə-)riŋ 
1
: contaminated by an infective agent (such as a bacterium) and producing pus
a festering wound
But if the patient can manage it, the whirlpool is a dandy way to handle festering bedsores.
Paul G. Donohue
Paul G. Donohue2
a
: persisting and growing increasingly bitter over time
festering resentment
… comedy that comes from a pit of festering hatred … Robert Brustein
Robert Brustein b
: persistently producing bad or unhealthy effects
Four hundred yards to the west, between the schoolhouse and the mountain, lay a festering center of sin, a bootleg whiskey still operated by the celebrated anti-Prohibition guerilla Sam Reever. Russell Baker
Russell Baker
Word History
First Known Use
1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1
festering 1 of 3
noun
as in decomposition
the process by which dead organic matter separates into simpler substances the ghastly festering of the corpses abandoned on the battlefield Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- decomposition
- rot
- decay
- putrefaction
- fermentation
- putrescence
- corruption
- spoilage
- crumbling
- disintegration
- moldering
- breakdown
- souring
- curdling
- dissolution
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- growth
- ripening
- maturation
festering
2 of 3adjective
as in bleeding
Synonyms & Similar Words
- bleeding
- burning
- nagging
- chafing
- pernicious
- itching
- inflamed
- noxious
- smarting
- stinging
- prickling
- swollen
- damaging
- raw
- cramping
- pricking
- detrimental
- aching
- tender
- agonizing
- harmful
- enflamed
- pinching
- sore
- threatening
- deleterious
- injurious
- excruciating
- painful
- hurtful
- hurting
- torturous
- severe
- grievous
- nasty
- wounding
- achy
- afflictive
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- healing
- helping
- remedial
- indolent
- curative
- painless
festering
3 of 3verb
as in rotting
to go through decomposition a week after the battle the corpses of the fallen were still festering in the fields Synonyms & Similar Words
- rotting
- decomposing
- decaying
- disintegrating
- moldering
- putrefying
- corrupting
- spoiling
- deteriorating
- crumbling
- molding
- perishing
- fouling
- falling apart
- souring
- contaminating
- rusting
- polluting
- descending
- fermenting
- tainting
- turning
- running to seed
- defiling
- breaking down
- going to seed
- degenerating
- mortifying
- curdling
- sinking
- withering
- dilapidating
- addling
- turning off
- declining
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- growing
- developing
- aging
- maturing
- ripening
- ageing
- restoring
- cleansing
- renewing
- purifying
- improving
- integrating
- composing
- refreshing
- ameliorating
- assembling
- meliorating
- bettering
- one-hit wonders
- one-hit-wonder
- one-hit-wonders
- one-horned rhino
- one-horned rhinoceros
- one-horse
- one-horse towns
- one-hundred-percent
- one-hundred-percenter
- one-hundred-percentism
- one-idea'd
- one-ideaed
- one-legged
- one-line octave
- one-liner
- one-liners
- one-lung
- one-lunged
- one-lunger
- one-man
- one-man band
- one-many
- one-night stand
- one-nighter
- one-note