cankerous

English

Etymology

canker +‎ -ous

Adjective

cankerous (comparative more cankerous, superlative most cankerous)

1. Infected with canker; ulcerous.
2. Causing canker; ulcerating.
   • 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Hall of Fantasy”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:

     Hither may come the prisoner, escaping from his dark and narrow cell and cankerous chain, to breathe free air in this enchanted atmosphere.

Quotations

• 1843, William Youatt, John Stuart Skinner, The Horse:

  A pledget of tar should be dipped in the acid, and then firmly pressed on the cankerous surface.

• 1861, Alfred Bate Richards, Croesus, King of Lydia:

  Twas cankerous envy framed his sour reply.