corruption

American  

[kuh-ruhp-shuhn] / kəˈrʌp ʃən /

noun

1. the act of corrupting or state of being corrupt.

   Antonyms:

   purity

2. moral perversion; depravity.

   Synonyms:

   immorality, dissolution

   Antonyms:

   purity

3. perversion of integrity.

   Antonyms:

   honesty, purity

4. corrupt or dishonest proceedings.

   Antonyms:

   honesty

5. bribery.

6. debasement or alteration, as of language or a text.

7. a debased form of a word.

8. putrefactive decay; rottenness.

   Synonyms:

   contamination, pollution, foulness, putrescence, putrefaction, rot

9. any corrupting influence or agency.

10. 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.

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corruption British  

/ kəˈrʌpʃən /

noun

1. the act of corrupting or state of being corrupt

2. moral perversion; depravity

3. dishonesty, esp bribery

4. putrefaction or decay

5. alteration, as of a manuscript

6. an altered form of a word

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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

Nearly half of the cases turned down for those offenses were out of the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office, which in the past has aggressively pursued alleged union corruption.

From Salon

But U.S. firms proved reluctant due to the company’s tarnished reputation, in addition to Congo’s poor infrastructure, limited skilled labor, resource nationalism and reputation for government corruption.

From The Wall Street Journal

A French court held the first international criminal trial for a 2007 alleged Russian corruption scheme that cost Denmark’s big bank $2 billion in fines and catalyzed the world’s financial sanctions laws.

From Barron's

When I asked Mr. Setrakian if his defense of Mr. Bonta might run afoul of state corruption laws, he referred me to the DOJ press office.

From The Wall Street Journal

“We’re not going to tolerate this kind of corruption in California.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bribery
• crime
• exploitation
• extortion
• fraud
• graft
• malfeasance
• nepotism