corruption
Americannoun
-
the act of corrupting or state of being corrupt.
- Antonyms:
- purity
-
moral perversion; depravity.
- Synonyms:
- immorality, dissolution
- Antonyms:
- purity
-
perversion of integrity.
-
corrupt or dishonest proceedings.
- Antonyms:
- honesty
-
debasement or alteration, as of language or a text.
-
a debased form of a word.
-
putrefactive decay; rottenness.
- Synonyms:
- contamination, pollution, foulness, putrescence, putrefaction, rot
-
any corrupting influence or agency.
-
Computers. the state of being compromised by errors in computer code or stored data, or an action that causes such errors.
The system crash was the result of previously undetected data corruption.
noun
-
the act of corrupting or state of being corrupt
-
moral perversion; depravity
-
dishonesty, esp bribery
-
putrefaction or decay
-
alteration, as of a manuscript
-
an altered form of a word
Usage
What does corruption mean? Corruption most commonly refers to a state in which members of organizations or institutions are engaging in illegal or otherwise dishonest practices to benefit themselves.The term is 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.Corruption is a noun form of corrupt, which can be an adjective used to describe people who act in this way (or their actions), or a verb meaning to destroy the integrity of someone or something or cause someone to be dishonest.More generally, corruption can refer to the act or process of someone or something becoming corrupt, depraved, or debased.More specifically, corruption can refer to the alteration of a word or text in a way that deviates from its original or intended form.Example: The investigation revealed a long history of corruption within the agency that extends to its highest ranks.
Other Word Forms
- anticorruption noun
- corruptionist noun
- overcorruption noun
- precorruption noun
Etymology
Origin of corruption
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English cor(r)upcio(u)n, from Middle French, from Latin corruptiōn-, stem of corruptiō; corrupt, -ion
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.
Harriet also shared the 2023 Collier Prize for State Government Accountability for revealing corruption in California’s legal profession that enabled attorneys to prey on vulnerable clients.
On the eve of a corruption investigation, he dematerialized from a New York street in 1930, perhaps carrying thousands of dollars from checks he’d just had cashed.
From Los Angeles Times
Several former ministers in Rama's governments have been targeted by corruption investigations.
From Barron's
Questions have been raised about a judge's decision to postpone a hearing, and the lord advocate has faced accusations of corruption.
From BBC
The offence, essentially an allegation of corruption, is one of the most difficult crimes to investigate, charge, prosecute and convict.
From BBC
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.
