corrupt

[ kuh-ruhpt ]

adjective

1. guilty of dishonest practices, as bribery; lacking integrity; crooked:

   a corrupt judge.

   Synonyms: trustworthy, false

2. debased in character; depraved; perverted; wicked; evil:

   a corrupt society.

3. (of a text) made inferior by errors or alterations:

   Scholars compared the corrupt Alexandrian manuscript with a more reliable Greek translation.

4. infected; tainted.
5. Archaic. decayed; putrid.

   Synonyms: spoiled, decomposed, rotten, putrescent

6. Computers. relating to or designating computer code or stored data that contains errors:

   If the corrupt file won’t open, restore a previous save.

verb (used with object)

1. to destroy the integrity of; cause to be dishonest, disloyal, etc., especially by bribery.

   Synonyms: demoralize, suborn, buy, bribe

2. to lower morally; pervert:

   to corrupt youth.

   Synonyms: vitiate, debase

3. to alter (a language, text, etc.) for the worse; debase.
4. to mar; spoil.
5. to infect; taint.

   Synonyms: defile, pollute, contaminate

6. Archaic. to make putrid or putrescent.

   Synonyms: putrefy

7. Computers. to introduce errors in (computer code or stored data) when saving, transmitting, or retrieving it:

   I downloaded some free modifications that corrupted the core program, so I can’t open it until I uninstall and reinstall the original version.

8. English Law. (in historical use) to subject (an attainted person) to corruption of blood.

verb (used without object)

1. to become corrupt.

corrupt

/ kəˈrʌpt /

adjective

1. lacking in integrity; open to or involving bribery or other dishonest practices

   corrupt practices in an election

   a corrupt official

2. morally depraved
3. putrid or rotten
4. contaminated; unclean
5. (of a text or manuscript) made meaningless or different in meaning from the original by scribal errors or alterations
6. (of computer programs or data) containing errors

verb

1. to become or cause to become dishonest or disloyal
2. to debase or become debased morally; deprave
3. tr to infect or contaminate; taint
4. tr to cause to become rotten
5. tr to alter (a text, manuscript, etc) from the original
6. tr computing to introduce errors into (data or a program)

Derived Forms

• corˈruptness, noun
• corˈruptly, adverb
• corˈruptive, adjective
• corˈruptively, adverb
• corˈrupter, noun

Other Words From

• cor·rupted·ly adverb
• cor·rupted·ness noun
• cor·rupter cor·ruptor noun
• cor·ruptive adjective
• cor·ruptive·ly adverb
• cor·ruptly adverb
• cor·ruptness noun
• noncor·rupt adjective
• noncor·ruptly adverb
• noncor·ruptness noun
• noncor·rupter noun
• noncor·ruptive adjective
• over·cor·rupt verb adjective
• over·cor·ruptly adverb
• precor·rupt verb (used with object)
• precor·ruptly adverb
• precor·ruptness noun
• precor·ruptive adjective
• uncor·rupt adjective
• uncor·ruptly adverb
• uncor·ruptness noun
• uncor·rupted adjective
• uncor·rupted·ly adverb
• uncor·rupted·ness noun
• uncor·rupting adjective
• uncor·ruptive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of corrupt¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb from Latin corruptus “rotten, decayed, corrupted” (past participle of corrumpere ), equivalent to cor- intensive prefix + rup- (variant stem of rumpere “to break”) + -tus past participle suffix; cor-

Word History and Origins

Origin of corrupt¹

C14: from Latin corruptus spoiled, from corrumpere to ruin, literally: break to pieces, from rumpere to break

Synonym Study

Corrupt, dishonest, venal apply to a person, especially in public office, who acts on mercenary motives, without regard to honor, right, or justice. A corrupt politician is one originally honest who has succumbed to temptation and begun questionable practices. A dishonest politician is one lacking native integrity. A venal politician is one so totally debased as to sell patronage.

Example Sentences

When it saw the Taliban’s rapid rise to prominence in the war against the Afghan government, ISIS declared that the takeover was the result of a corrupt conspiracy between the United States and the Taliban.

From The Daily Beast

In Vietnam we sided with a corrupt post-colonial government dominated by minority Catholics in a majority Buddhist nation.

From Time

In each case, the United States installed a corrupt, pro-Western regime before abandoning its support when the cost was deemed to outweigh the benefit.

From Washington Post

He also once again grumbled that the “corrupt media” had taken his previous comments out of context.

From The Daily Beast

With Bulgaria ranked as the EU’s most corrupt country, no activity can really be ruled out.

From Ozy

These young adults have voluntarily checked out of a political system they consider corrupt and dysfunctional.

From The Daily Beast

Cuba, already corrupt, will have to avoid becoming even more so when American investment pours in.

From The Daily Beast

So, is Rampal really that different from a corrupt, charismatic megachurch leader felled by scandal?

From The Daily Beast

That suggestion turns absurd when you consider the long list of corrupt Democrat politicians Lynch has sent to prison.

From The Daily Beast

This corrupt bargain results in a decade-long stasis, with far-reaching implications.

From The Daily Beast

He will tell you that evil communications corrupt good manners, and pitch defiles.

From Project Gutenberg

It is tolerably certain that this is a corrupt form of the passage, and only makes the matter darker.

From Project Gutenberg

The administration had been too corrupt, the exactions too heavy to be longer borne, when reform appeared to be within reach.

From Project Gutenberg

Their speech is a dialect called Chabucano—a mixture of very corrupt Spanish and native tongues.

From Project Gutenberg

And the degraded society, like the robe which once covered the living body, but is afterwards cast off, is faded and corrupt.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bribe
• contaminate
• debase
• degrade
• demean
• demoralize
• harm
• impair
• misuse
• ruin
• subvert
• taint
• undermine
• violate
• warp

More About Corrupt

What does corrupt mean?

Corrupt is commonly used as an adjective to describe members of organizations or institutions who engage in illegal or otherwise dishonest practices to benefit themselves. It can also be used in this way to describe their actions or institutions that have a lot of this activity.

Corrupt can also be used as verb meaning to destroy the integrity of someone or something or cause someone to be dishonest.

The state of being corrupt is corruption. Both terms are most often used in the context of such rulebreaking by people who are powerful or who are responsible for the well-being of others, such as politicians, government officials, and police officers.

More generally, corrupt can be used as an adjective that means depraved, debased, or having been made worse in some way. It can also be used as a verb meaning to make someone or something depraved, debased, or worse in some way.

More specifically, corrupt can mean to alter a word or text in a way that deviates from its original or intended form.

Example: This isn’t just one or two corrupt officials. The whole organization is corrupt—bribes and kickbacks are their normal way of doing business.

Where does corrupt come from?

The first records of the word corrupt come from the 1200s. It ultimately derives from the Latin verb corrumpere, meaning “to ruin” (or literally “to break to pieces”), from the verb rumpere, “to break.”

People described as corrupt are usually those who are supposed to be upholding the rules but instead break the rules to benefit themselves—typically to get richer or more powerful. The word is most commonly used to describe crooked officials in the government or other organizations and their shady dealings (as opposed to ordinary citizens). Perhaps the most common and well-known example of corruption is bribery, and in fact corruption can be used as a synonym of bribery.

When people say a person has been corrupted, it usually involves a debasing of their values or morality (at least in the judgment of the person using the word). Language and words are corrupted all the time as words evolve and get introduced into other languages. This sense of the word is less negative than others. In the context of software, data or files can get corrupted due to various errors, often resulting in files being lost or unable to be opened.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to corrupt?

• corruption (noun)
• corruptible (adjective)
• corruptive (adjective)
• corrupter (noun)
• corruptor (noun)
• corruptly (adverb)

What are some synonyms for corrupt?

• crooked
• depraved
• debased

What are some words that share a root or word element with corrupt? 

• rupture
• erupt

What are some words that often get used in discussing corrupt?

• politician
• official
• government
• cop
• police
• bribery
• morals
• file
• data

How is corrupt used in real life?

Corrupt is most commonly used to describe crooked institutions and officials, especially in government and politics.

One thing this week has really shown me is that even corrupt politicians you don’t like act quick and have sudden “changes of heart” under the right pressure. Voting is good but you also don’t need to wait for that, don’t underestimate the power of showing up for activist actions

— Stephanie Hurlburt (@sehurlburt) June 9, 2020

I blame my dad for corrupting my mind with free jazz and fusion…when I went to jazz school, I thought my teachers would respect sun ra and Albert Ayler.

— Cheetos 🎷👽✌🏼 Prophet (@kingkroba) March 8, 2019

Yeah, it's there. But it crashes before it can complete the autosave, so the file is corrupt and won't open… :(
It's fine, I'm just doing it over.

— Jazzy (@JazzsVids) June 19, 2020

 

 

Try using corrupt!

Is corrupt used correctly in the following sentence?

Parents often worry that their kids will stumble upon programming that corrupts their values.