1
as in deteriorates
to become worse or of less value
the house slowly fell into disrepair and rotted
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in decomposes
to go through decomposition
rotting vegetation on the bank of the river
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rots
Critics have long warned that too much television rots your brain, but new evidence suggests at least some time in front of the tube may actually benefit your mental health.
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Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 7 Jan. 2026
If Britain continues down the path of criminalizing thought and prayer, the alliance risks being reduced to polite diplomacy while its moral core rots away.
—Lois McLatchie Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rots
Verb
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When those conditions are absent, performance deteriorates quickly.—
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The Kyiv Post reported Thursday that Ukrainian military officials say Russian units left inside the city are cut off from reliable supply lines and are increasingly surrendering as their position deteriorates.—
Verb
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The research team developed a route-planning system for Astrobee, the ISS’s robotic assistant, that leverages sequential convex programming—a method that decomposes complex trajectory planning into smaller, tractable steps while guaranteeing safety and feasibility.—
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Shilajit is a mineral-rich resin that forms over centuries as plant material slowly decomposes under heat and pressure within the rocks of the Himalayan Mountains.—
Verb
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Academic success means little if a child crumbles under stress.—
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Toby’s display, overall, looks a lot nicer, but when Paul goes to take a slice of his cake from the chocolate case, the whole thing crumbles to a mess.—
Verb
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The debris – space rocks known as meteoroids – collides with Earth's atmosphere at high speed and disintegrates, creating fiery and colorful streaks in the sky, according to NASA.—
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The debris — space rocks known as meteoroids — collides with Earth's atmosphere at high speed and disintegrates, creating fiery and colorful streaks in the sky, according to NASA.—
Verb
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The other occurs when Marty descends a staircase in the opulent apartment that Kay shares with her rich husband, Milton (Kevin O’Leary).—
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Netflix What happens when a supernatural danger descends on a blissful retirement community?—
Verb
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Grief gets layered on top of grief and secrets stack sky high as suburban normalcy decays into something at once alarmingly unstable and comfortingly funny.—
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This famously happens when a quantum object is measured, but in this case, the mystery crops up when the top quark decays into lighter particles.—
Verb
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Sam slips back into her addiction and as her alcoholism worsens, so do the visions and apparitions that seem to be haunting the forest.—
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As climate change worsens, more locations are going to become too hot for data centers.—
Verb
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Independent energy analyst Rachel Ziemba, who agrees major oil companies may hesitate, also notes that declines in the price of crude – the raw material for consumer products like gasoline – are often not fully passed on to consumers.—
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As Gustav aims to work his way back into their lives, Nora retreats into isolation as her mental health increasingly declines.—
Cite this Entry
“Rots.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rots. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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