venality

American  

[vee-nal-i-tee, vuh-] / viˈnæl ɪ ti, və- /

noun

1. the condition or quality of being venal; openness to bribery or corruption.

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Etymology

Origin of venality

From the Late Latin word vēnālitas, dating back to 1605–15. See venal, -ity

Explanation

Venality is the quality of being open to bribery or overly motivated by money. A government worker's venality might lead him to exchange state secrets for cash. Criminals are known for their venality, being willing to break the law for a financial reward. This kind of venality can vary from police officers accepting bribes to politicians making decisions and passing laws based on campaign contributions. The Late Latin root word is venalitatem, "capable of being bought," from venum, "for sale."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

venality

More broadly the play is a tart vivisection of human pettiness and venality, as one by one the characters’ prejudices, peccadilloes and blinkered views are exposed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

You perceive Hale’s true colors immediately through those associations, just as you can see Ernest’s venality through DiCaprio’s immediately recognizable brand of boyish corruptibility.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2023

Landlords are opposed to this and other measures and not out of venality.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2023

Taub and Sultan still make us care about Faraz and Tamar, however, and the show’s evocations of Iranian venality and nepotism and brutal Israeli realpolitik are more pointed than ever.

From New York Times ● May 10, 2022

This is one of the chief causes of the venality and of the defective condition of the Russian administrative departments.

From Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Crimea, the Caucasus, &c. by Xavier Hommaire de Hell