Careful Words

rotten (adj.)

There's small choice in rotten apples.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Taming of the Shrew. Act i. Sc. 1.

A goodly apple rotten at the heart:

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Merchant of Venice. Act i. Sc. 3.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act i. Sc. 4.