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Definitions

fester

[fes-ter] / ˈfɛs tər /


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.

See Examples For:

That's why it needs sorting out now because it's such a bad look if it's allowed to fester.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

We start talking about relationships and unhealthy withdrawal and letting things fester to the point that when the emotions come out, it feels abrupt and the other person has no idea what’s going on.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

Psychiatric researchers are referring to the confluence of these three characteristics—sycophancy, linguistic alignment and hyperpersonalization—as the “amplification spiral,” suggesting it’s the mechanism by which delusional thinking can fester.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

It's fascinating to see the incident morph and fester.

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon

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

They allow listeners to call or text questions on WhatsApp, a social media platform especially popular with immigrant communities but where much of the misinformation they see festers.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2024

Journalists who joined the patrol also witnessed what life has been like for the Philippine Coast Guard as the South China Sea dispute festers.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2023

Below us Toronto festers in the evening heat, the trees spreading like worn moss, the lake zinc in the distance.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

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

No amount of martyrdom can save his legacy from succumbing to the rot he festered.

From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2025

Peace proposals and presidents have come and gone but the problems have festered.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2025

This zinging back-and-forth is also in evidence in the film, in which these sisters metaphorically tear each other apart and then try to heal the wounds that have festered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2024

During that first summer and fall of sandy congestion and wind-blown boredom, the bitterness accumulated, the rage festered in hundreds of tarpapered cubicles like ours.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

Mountains of festering trash blight the streets of the capital, as dump trucks don’t have fuel to pick up the waste.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 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

Waiting to reveal what had been hidden and festering for so long.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool


Vocabulary lists containing fester

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