corruptible
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does corruptible mean? Corruptible is an adjective most commonly used to describe someone or an institution that can be caused to be dishonest or act immorally. Corruptible comes from the verb corrupt, which means to destroy the integrity of someone or something or cause someone to be dishonest. As an adjective, corrupt is commonly used 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 corruption. Corrupt and corruption 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 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. Something that is corruptible is able to be made worse in some way, perhaps easily. For example, someone who’s corruptible will offer little resistance when they’re pressured to do the wrong thing—or they may even seek out an opportunity to break the rules to benefit themselves, such as by taking a bribe. The opposite of corruptible is incorruptible. Someone who’s incorruptible is honest and unbribable. Example: Bribes and kickbacks are their normal way of doing business, and they always seek out corruptible people to help them do it.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of corruptible
1300–50; Middle English (< Anglo-French ) < Late Latin corruptibilis < Latin corrupt ( us ) ( see corrupt) + -ibilis -ible
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Following the revelation Farage said he knew Gill as a "God-fearing Christian, somebody that you would think was the least corruptible person".
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2025
You talk about how corrupt and corruptible the marketplace of ideas is.
From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2024
In the same fashion, Mia is a character both empathetic and easily corruptible.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2023
He simply found his way in, as evil spirits bedeviling corruptible men surely do.
From Salon ● May 24, 2022
Believing most men corrupt or corruptible, he was constantly busy in contriving expedients to control or win them.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
