corrupt
guilty of dishonest practices, as bribery; lacking integrity; crooked: a corrupt judge.
(of a text) made inferior by errors or alterations: Scholars compared the corrupt Alexandrian manuscript with a more reliable Greek translation.
infected; tainted.
Archaic. decayed; putrid.
Computers. relating to or designating computer code or stored data that contains errors: If the corrupt file won’t open, restore a previous save.
to destroy the integrity of; cause to be dishonest, disloyal, etc., especially by bribery.
to lower morally; pervert: to corrupt youth.
to alter (a language, text, etc.) for the worse; debase.
to mar; spoil.
to infect; taint.
Archaic. to make putrid or putrescent.
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.
English Law. (in historical use) to subject (an attainted person) to corruption of blood.
to become corrupt.
Origin of corrupt
1synonym study For corrupt
Other words for corrupt
| 1 | false, trustworthy |
| 4 | contaminated |
| 5 | putrescent, rotten, decomposed, spoiled |
| 7 | bribe, buy, suborn; demoralize |
| 8 | debase, vitiate |
| 11 | contaminate, pollute, defile |
| 12 | putrefy |
Other words from corrupt
- 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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use corrupt in a sentence
After the Godslayer takes off, the eagle tells the Hunter to free the eagle’s children who have been corrupted by him.
‘The Pathless’: Less than the sum of its parts | Christopher Byrd | November 23, 2020 | Washington PostHis Facebook fan page has repeatedly blasted prosecutors as “corrupt” and motivated by politics.
Veteran, War Hero, Defendant, Troll | by Jeremy Schwartz and Perla Trevizo | September 29, 2020 | ProPublicaThe more that favored constituencies can—or think they can—get through antitrust, the more meddlesome and corrupt the process will become.
FTC commissioner: Is antitrust the next stakeholder capitalism battleground? | jakemeth | September 26, 2020 | FortuneIf there’s an asteroid on a collision course for Earth, the data might now be too corrupted for us to find it early enough and plan a proper response.
Satellite mega-constellations risk ruining astronomy forever | Neel Patel | September 2, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewHarding was kind of a weakling who didn’t try to stop other corrupt people in his cabinet, even once he knew about it.
Does the President Matter as Much as You Think? (Ep. 404) | Stephen J. Dubner | February 6, 2020 | Freakonomics
Greer loves politics, but hates the corrupting influence of money on the system.
Yet like Jews and African Americans, gays are “among us,” polluting our race, corrupting our values.
Rousseau maintained that humans are peaceful in their natural state; wars result from the corrupting influences of civilization.
Apparently it was, yes, those ubiquitous Americans always bent on corrupting Mother Russia.
A school shooting in north Moscow had politicians quickly blaming American culture as a corrupting influence on Russian youth.
The English have too much pride to be tricky or shabby, even in the essentially corrupting relation of buyer and seller.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyThis is the only book that I know which goes deeply into the corrupting, demoralizing psychology of prison life.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander BerkmanTo do this with taste, and without corrupting or annihilating the meaning of the word, demands a certain amount of literary skill.
A Cursory History of Swearing | Julian SharmanMisreading or corrupting the purer teaching of their founder, they place their hopes in sensual enjoyment.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John LordTerror has been and always will be the most certain means of corrupting and enslaving the mind of man.
Letters To Eugenia | Paul Henri Thiry Holbach
British Dictionary definitions for corrupt
/ (kəˈrʌpt) /
lacking in integrity; open to or involving bribery or other dishonest practices: a corrupt official; corrupt practices in an election
morally depraved
putrid or rotten
contaminated; unclean
(of a text or manuscript) made meaningless or different in meaning from the original by scribal errors or alterations
(of computer programs or data) containing errors
to become or cause to become dishonest or disloyal
to debase or become debased morally; deprave
(tr) to infect or contaminate; taint
(tr) to cause to become rotten
(tr) to alter (a text, manuscript, etc) from the original
(tr) computing to introduce errors into (data or a program)
Origin of corrupt
1Derived forms of corrupt
- corrupter or corruptor, noun
- corruptive, adjective
- corruptively, adverb
- corruptly, adverb
- corruptness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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