putrescent
/pjuˈtɹɛsənt/
putrescent adjective: becoming putrid; putrefying.
Adjective
putrescent (comparative more putrescent, superlative most putrescent)
- Becoming putrid; putrefying.
- When it is combined with that quantity of water with which it is found united in the gall-bladder, it is not more putrescent than the serum of the blood1791, George Fordyce, A treatise on the digestion of food, page 68
- This same reason accounts to a considerable extent for the fact, that soft steeping liquor, if seldom changed, becomes much more putrescent than hard water retained with the same barleys for a similar period in cistern.1885, Henry Stopes, Malt and malting, an historical, scientific, and practical treatise, page 48
Forms of putrescent
| comparative | more putrescent |
|---|---|
| superlative | most putrescent |
Origin of putrescent
Attested since circa 1730, from Latin pūtrēscēns (“rotting”), present participle of pūtrēscō (“rot”).
Words formed from putrescent
Words that rhyme with putrescent
- crescent
- evanescent
- deliquescent
- fluorescent
- incandescent
- efflorescent
- quiescent
- senescent
- accrescent
- acquiescent
- arborescent
- circumcrescent
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- convalescent
- depressant
- effervescent
- erubescent
- excrescent
- iridescent
- juvenescent
- lapidescent
- pubescent
- recrudescent
- reflorescent
- spinescent
- tumescent
- virescent
- viridescent
- acaulescent
- adipescent
- adularescent
- adultescent
- adultolescent
- agonescent
- albescent
- alcalescent
- alkalescent
- antidepressant
- autofluorescent
- autoluminescent
- biofluorescent
- bioluminescent
- calescent
- candescent
- cathodoluminescent
- caulescent
- cerulescent
- cessant
- chemifluorescent
- chemiluminescent
- chemoluminescent
- cinerescent
- coalescent
- concrescent
- contabescent
- crystalloluminescent
- cytofluorescent
- decadescent
- decalescent
- defervescent
- delitescent
Questions about putrescent
- What does putrescent mean?
- Putrescent means becoming putrid; putrefying.
- What part of speech is putrescent?
- Putrescent is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce putrescent?
- Putrescent is pronounced /pjuˈtɹɛsənt/.
Words near putrescent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: putrescent (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-putrescent.wav.
Cite this entry: “putrescent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/putrescent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.