fester

It’s better to get a baseline as to where your balance stands — and strengthen it, as needed — than let an unknown problem fester and progress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Given your reaction, I don’t believe it’s a good idea to let this fester.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

But it doesn’t get better if we just leave the bubble to fester.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

Despite this, he's facing a dwindling number of volunteers and donors - a symptom, as he puts it, of a town "left to fester" in economic strife.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

Her skirt caught the cool evening wind, which tugged her away even fester.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

However, momentum has been lost and the danger is that the problem now just festers for days, months or even years.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Farmers and herders clash over land in the centre of the country while a simmering separatist movement festers in the southeast.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

By your early 70s, the anxiety festers and grows.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026

With no immediate help from officers, the fear and anxiety festers inside you.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2025

Now everything resonates, sticks like a splinter, festers.

From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour

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

The problem only festered further under Lincoln Riley, as the coach initially cast a wider net nationally, aiming for top prospects in states like Texas and Florida while local stars signed and shined elsewhere.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025

Wilson’s lead is a working-class Black man, a former Negro league superstar whose dreams festered when baseball’s color barrier prevented him from rising into the big leagues.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2024

Wounds festered and got infected at lightning speed in the damp heat.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

As earnings season gets under way, festering worries about artificial-intelligence stocks could be put to bed.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

The subindex tracking service activity rose to 50.3 from April’s 49.6, while the construction subindex stood at 48.8, compared with 48.0 in the prior month as a festering property slump continued to weigh on growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026

But with little progress on the issues festering and so much riding on their relationship, any reprieve could be temporary—and the space for surprises large.

From Barron's ● May 12, 2026

Ray’s mysterious and fraught history as a member of the British military during the Troubles is a festering boil this film will eventually lance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025

With every squeal and shout and gasp and “Go, Courtney, go!” that comes out of her mouth, I sink a little further into my festering pit of mingled despair and desperation.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone