Home › Glossary › Letter P

Putrid

Disease
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An adjective meaning rotten, foul-smelling, and decaying; in poetry, it evokes decay, moral corruption, or the visceral horror of physical disintegration.

Detailed Definition
Putrid describes matter corrupted by decay, especially flesh, water, air, or wounds that have become foul and dangerous. Poets use it to make disease sensorial: the reader can almost smell the stagnant room, battlefield trench, or neglected corpse. Figuratively, putrid may condemn a morally corrupt system or atmosphere. Its blunt ugliness is valuable in satire, horror, and witness poetry, where beauty must give way to the physical fact of decomposition.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Putrid lilies bowed in the graveyard rain,” using putrid for vivid decay and corruption; The speaker describes “a putrid sweetness” rising from the marsh, combining beauty with disgust; “Putrid crowns of fruit” can symbolize a kingdom spoiled by greed; In a gothic poem, “the putrid air of the crypt” creates an atmosphere of death and confinement
Additional Notes
Suggests physical rot, infection, and a strong offensive odor. Poets also use it figuratively for moral corruption, polluted air, or a decaying society.
Also Known As
Rotten Corrupt Fetid Septic Festered Putrescent
Skip to main content