decayed

1. 1
   adjective

   Rotted, or broken down by the process of decay.

   Divers found the decayed hull of a fishing boat on the sea floor.

   The lower planks were far more decayed than the ones near the roof.

   Similarrotten, rotted, crumbling

   Oppositesound, fresh

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of decay.

   Most of the radioactive isotope had decayed by the time the samples reached the lab.

   The satellite's orbit decayed until it burned up in the atmosphere.

   Note

   One spelling covers the simple past (the fruit decayed) and the participle after have (the isotope has decayed). Most meanings are intransitive, so a passive works only with the causative one: timber decayed by damp. The participle also stands alone as the adjective for rotted, as in decayed teeth, where it can take more and most.

3. 3
   adjectivedated

   Having fallen into reduced circumstances, with one's former status or fortune lost.

   A decayed gentlewoman, she took in sewing to keep up appearances.

   The charity was founded to help decayed merchants and their widows.

   Similarimpoverished, reduced, fallen

   Oppositeprosperous, wealthy

   Note

   Here it is fortune and standing that have rotted, not timber or teeth: the word takes the "rotted" sense and turns it on people. It sits best before a noun of rank or trade, as in a decayed gentlewoman. Because it is dated, it suits historical fiction or a deliberate period voice; for hardship today, impoverished is the natural word.

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