decomposing 1 of 2

adjective

as in decomposed

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decomposing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of decompose
as in rotting
to go through decomposition detectives needed to know how long it would take a corpse to decompose to that advanced state

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of decomposing
Verb
Other microbes recycle nutrients by decomposing dead plants and animals, fix atmospheric nitrogen into forms that plants can use, and form essential partnerships with roots, insects, and other organisms. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Aug. 2026 Many unanswered questions remain after 56 decomposing bodies were found inside a Chicago funeral home last week. — Megan De Mar, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026 Food waste decomposing in landfills emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas that warms the planet. — ABC News, 10 Aug. 2026 On Thursday, 57 decomposing bodies were found at South Chicago Chapel after a complaint was filed reporting that remains were not being properly stored. — Evgenia Anastasakos, Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 2026 Earlier this year, two Colorado funeral home co-directors were sentenced to decades in prison for a scheme that involved hiding 200 decomposing bodies. — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 8 Aug. 2026 The case dates to March 11, 2022, when police in the Central Valley city of Merced found the girl’s decomposing body in the basement bathroom of a house. — Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2026 Authorities said the remains included bones believed to belong to four newborns and the decomposing body of a fifth. — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026 Ament revisited his archive of decomposing negatives with his brother, designer Barry Ament, a few years ago. — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 29 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decomposing
  1. decomposed
  2. rotting
  3. decaying
  4. disintegrating
  5. decayed
  6. rotted
  7. rotten
  8. spoiled
Adjective
  • Two decomposed bodies have been found within five days at a park in western North Carolina, and both cases are classified as murders, according to investigators.
    — Mark Price July 26, Charlotte Observer, 26 July 2026
  • At a time when the Earth was bare, when there were no vertebrates, no trees, no leaves, no flowering plants, and no plants with seeds, millipedes were feeding on decaying mosses, decomposed slime, and primordial gunk.
    — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 13 June 2026
Definition of decomposed
Verb
  • The Lineage warehouse fire, which erupted a mile away nearly two months ago, still blankets the church every morning with the fetid stench of millions of pounds of rotting food that have yet to be trucked away.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026
  • The smell of rotting food follows Juan Canil like a second shadow.
    — Celina Tebor, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of rotting
Adjective
  • The district also could be in for other major changes in the coming years, including the opening of a few new schools to replace multiple decaying, underenrolled schools.
    — Scott Travis, Miami Herald, 15 May 2026
Definition of decaying
Verb
  • Teams must build enough psychological trust to disagree without disintegrating.
    — Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Others rot in the California sun, disintegrating into bony fragments.
    — Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
Definition of disintegrating
Adjective
  • Rossi treated the paint surface, meanwhile, by removing oxidized varnish, decayed retouching, and incoherent integrations and additions, allowing viewers to appreciate the luminosity of Fra Angelico’s palette and the precision of his gilding.
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Discard any that look dead or decayed.
    — Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 2 Apr. 2026
Definition of decayed
Adjective
  • Inspect fences and perform any repairs or maintenance, such as reinforcing posts or replacing rotted sections.
    — BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026
  • Many grapes become too rotted and are left to wither away.
    — John Mariani, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of rotted
Adjective
  • The meeting comes after Lineage Logistics, which operates the 500,000-square-foot facility, has already been cited by AQMD officials for the rotten odor.
    — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The veal barn had a smell Birdie had never smelled anywhere else—antiseptic, then sweet like a flower and rotten like manure.
    — Rachel Yoder, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of rotten
Adjective
  • Lineage has also been cited by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health for rodent and pest control violations, which became an issue in the early days of the cleanup as they were attracted by the spoiled food.
    — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Workers have cleared out and sanitized the eastern freezer, which was largely destroyed in the fire and filled with spoiled food and charred debris.
    — Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of spoiled

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Cite this Entry

“Decomposing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decomposing. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of decomposing for Spanish Speakers

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