festered

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The “ignominy” of missing action, we are told, remained a “badge of shame” that festered for the rest of his life, “driving him to seek reckless vindication” in confrontations with other men of his class.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

For years, he lived underground or festered in jail.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

But this issue has festered for years, and rather than point fingers, the district or the city, or both, need to do their jobs.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025

The crackdown on “temp tags” comes in response to a problem that officials say has festered for years but exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside other chaos on American roads.

From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2024

And with that, he winked, an act that turned the sandwich I’d had the night before into a revolting slime that churned and festered in my stomach.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall