fester

[fes-ter]

verb (used without object)

1. to form pus; generate purulent matter; suppurate.

2. to cause ulceration, as a foreign body in the flesh.

3. to putrefy or rot.

4. to rankle, as a feeling of resentment.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to rankle.

   Malice festered his spirit.

noun

1. an ulcer; a rankling sore.

2. a small, purulent, superficial sore.

fester

/ ˈfɛstə /

verb

1. to form or cause to form pus

2. (intr) to become rotten; decay

3. to become or cause to become bitter, irritated, etc, esp over a long period of time; rankle

   resentment festered his imagination

4. informal,  (intr) to be idle or inactive

noun

1. a small ulcer or sore containing pus

Other Word Forms

• unfestered adjective
• unfestering adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fester¹

1350–1400; (noun) Middle English festir, festre < Anglo-French, Old French festre < Latin fistula fistula (for -l- > -r- chapter ); (v.) Middle English festryn, derivative of the noun or < Old French festrir

Word History and Origins

Origin of fester¹

C13: from Old French festre suppurating sore, from Latin: _fistula

Example Sentences

If doubts about private lenders continue to fester, pensions and other large institutional investors could become forced sellers of index funds to avoid realizing losses on their private-asset holdings.

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Policymakers face a dilemma: cut production drastically, which risks a collapse in growth, or move too slowly and risk letting the problem fester.

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The stories in this unmatched collection mercilessly tap into the horrors that can fester in the human heart, as well as taaqtumi—Inuktitut for “in the dark.”

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And, as happens so often in a second presidential term, there is a quietly festering scandal—the mysterious Jeffrey Epstein files, which were going to be released until they weren’t.

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“As a result, we’ve let problems fester, missed opportunities and neglected partners,” he wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal earlier this year.

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Related Words

• smolder