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

2

a

: persisting and growing increasingly bitter over time

festering resentment

… comedy that comes from a pit of festering hatred …

—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

Examples of festering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adding to the festering sense of uncertainty about the enterprise is the principal characters’ embrace of the supernatural. —Popular Mechanics, 14 Apr. 2023

For the moment at least, embassies remain open in both capitals despite a festering but unrelated diplomatic spat that has seen the two sides expel dozens of diplomats since 2017. —chicagotribune.com, 3 Mar. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1