verdorben

The German word "verdorben" is a past participle often used as an adjective or verb form related to "verdreben"/"verderben", meaning "to spoil" or "to ruin".

• Root word: derb meaning (roughly) "severe" or "coarse" is less relevant; the key verb here is "verderben" meaning "to spoil" or "to decay".
• Meaning: "verdorben" means "spoiled," "rotten," or "corrupted," often used to describe food that has gone bad or a person’s character that has been morally ruined.

Similar words:

• "Morsch" (rotten, for wood or material)
• "faul" (rotten, especially for fruit)
• "kaputt" (broken, not working)
• "entstellt" (disfigured, spoiled appearance)

Differences:
While faul and morsch focus on specific states of decay for certain materials, verdorben is broader and often used both for food spoilage and metaphorical corruption. Kaputt is more general for brokenness and doesn’t imply decay or moral corruption.