rotting carcass
Decaying dead body
A rotting carcass is the decaying body of a dead animal.
The phrase emphasizes decomposition—the smell, the flies, the visible decay.
It appears literally in descriptions of nature or neglect: Vultures circled the rotting carcass.
Figuratively, it describes anything moribund or corrupted beyond salvage: The company was a rotting carcass, kept alive only by government subsidies.
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
- putridDecomposed and foul-smelling
- maggotsLarval flies
- stenchPowerfully offensive odor
foul smell · carrion · dead animal · flies · bloated · flesh · bones · picked clean · vultures · festering · corpse · death · remains · cadaver · shallow grave · crime scene · foul · morbid
preservation state
rotting carcassfresh meat
Naive new targets
living tissue · mummified remains · embalmed body · cured meat · smoked meat