Meanings
plural rotten boroughs
- UKhistoricalgovernmentA parliamentary borough that was represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly that they were largely controlled by the main landowner; such boroughs were abolished in the 19th century.First known use mid 18th c.
1 more example
[…] Queen's Crawley was no longer so populous a place as it had been in Queen Bess's time—nay, was come down to that condition of borough which used to be denominated rotten–yet, as Sir Pitt Crawley would say with perfect justice in his elegant way, "Rotten! be hanged—it produces me a good fifteen hundred a year."
[1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Crawley of Queen’s Crawley”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 57Synonyms: nomination borough, proprietorial borough
- UKbroadlygovernmentA parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA parliamentary borough that was represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly that they were largely controlled by the main landowner; such boroughs were abolished in the 19th century.
Origin
From rotten (“in a state of decay”) + borough (“type of administrative district”), because such boroughs were regarded as having “decayed” due to their voters moving away to other places.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque burgu usteldu
- burgu ustelduparliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Bulgarian гнил район
- гнил район (gnil rajon)parliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Chinese Mandarin 腐敗選區 /腐败选区
- 腐敗選區 /腐败选区 (fǔbàixuǎnqū)parliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Finnish lahonnut kauppala
- lahonnut kauppalaparliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
French bourg pourri
- bourg pourriparliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Hebrew מחוז רקוב ומחוז כיס
- מחוז רקוב ומחוז כיסparliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Italian borgo putrido
- borgo putridoparliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Japanese 腐敗選挙区
- 腐敗選挙区 (fuhaisenkyoku)parliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Norwegian Bokmål råtten valgkrets, lommevalgkrets
- råtten valgkretsparliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
- lommevalgkretsparliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Polish zgniłe miasteczko
- zgniłe miasteczkoparliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Russian гнило́е месте́чко
- гнило́е месте́чко (gnilóje mestéčko)parliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Spanish burgo podrido
- burgo podridoparliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with rotten borough
All rhymes →Cite this entry
rotten borough. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rotten%20borough
“rotten borough.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rotten%20borough. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rotten borough,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rotten%20borough.
Source: rotten borough on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.