Cankered

adj, verb

adj, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    simple past and past participle of canker form-of, participle, past
Adjective
  1. 1
    Infected with a canker or having a cankerous part.
  2. 2
    Ulcerated.
  3. 3
    Corrupted; morally corrupt. figuratively
  4. 4
    Bad-tempered. figuratively

Synonyms

All synonyms
badbearishbitchycantankerouschurlishcontaminated

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English cankered, y-cancred, past participle of Middle English cankren, equivalent to canker + -ed.

Etymology 2

From Middle English cancrede (preterite) and Middle English cankered, y-cancred (past participle) of Middle English cankren (“to canker”), equivalent to canker + -ed.

Related phrases

bad tempered

More for "cankered"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.