cankered

[ kang-kerd ]

adjective

1. morally corrupt.
2. bad-tempered.
3. (of plants)
   1. destroyed or having portions destroyed by the feeding of a cankerworm.
   2. having a cankerous part; infected with a canker.
4. ulcerated.

Other Words From

• cankered·ly adverb
• cankered·ness noun
• un·cankered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cankered¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; canker, -ed ³

Example Sentences

Hamlet paused before coming to his point “I wish to discover whether a surgeon, by cutting out the cankered spot, could restore the vital spirit to perfection.”

From Literature

Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.”

From Salon

"The balm of time," replied the gipsy, unmoved, "which, as I know by the experience of many sorrows, can take the venom from the most cankered wound!"

From Project Gutenberg

He had, it was asserted, "cankered the principles of republicanism" "and carried his designs against the public liberty so far as to put in jeopardy its very existence."

From Project Gutenberg

This cankered condition of dogs' teeth may be brought about by the absorption of mercury into the system.

From Project Gutenberg