corrupt

[ kuh-ruhpt ]

/ kəˈrʌpt /

adjective

guilty of dishonest practices, as bribery; lacking integrity; crooked: a corrupt judge.

debased in character; depraved; perverted; wicked; evil: a corrupt society.

made inferior by errors or alterations, as a text.

infected; tainted.

decayed; putrid.

verb (used with object)

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.

to make putrid or putrescent.

English Law. to subject (an attainted person) to corruption of blood.

verb (used without object)

to become corrupt.

Origin of corrupt

1250–1300; Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Latin corruptus broken in pieces, corrupted (past participle of corrumpere), equivalent to cor- cor- + rup- (variant stem of rumpere to break) + -tus past participle suffix

SYNONYMS FOR corrupt

1. false, untrustworthy. 3, 4. contaminated. 4, 5. putrescent, rotten, spoiled. 6. demoralize, bribe. 7. debase, vitiate. 10. contaminate, pollute, spoil, defile. 11. putrefy.

Related forms

cor·rupt·ed·ly, adverbcor·rupt·ed·ness, nouncor·rupt·er, cor·rup·tor, nouncor·rup·tive, adjective

cor·rup·tive·ly, adverbcor·rupt·ly, adverbcor·rupt·ness, nounnon·cor·rupt, adjectivenon·cor·rupt·ly, adverbnon·cor·rupt·ness, nounnon·cor·rupt·er, nounnon·cor·rup·tive, adjectiveo·ver·cor·rupt, verb, adjectiveo·ver·cor·rupt·ly, adverbpre·cor·rupt, verb (used with object)pre·cor·rupt·ly, adverbpre·cor·rupt·ness, nounpre·cor·rup·tive, adjectiveun·cor·rupt, adjectiveun·cor·rupt·ly, adverbun·cor·rupt·ness, nounun·cor·rupt·ed, adjectiveun·cor·rupt·ed·ly, adverbun·cor·rupt·ed·ness, nounun·cor·rupt·ing, adjectiveun·cor·rup·tive, adjective

Synonym study

1. Corrupt, dishonest, venal apply to one, especially in public office, who acts on mercenary motives, without regard to honor, right, or justice. A corrupt politician is one originally honest who has succumbed to temptation and begun questionable practices. A dishonest politician is one lacking native integrity. A venal politician is one so totally debased as to sell patronage.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for corruptor

Steffens, Lincoln, on the wealthy business man as a corruptor of municipal politics, 289.
The Spirit of American Government|J. Allen Smith
But if he is judged incorruptible how will he prove that I am corruptor?
Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence Vol. 1 of 2|Elizabeth S. Kite
They tend to show that Plato did not seek (as many of his commentators do) to depict Protagoras as a corruptor of the public mind.
Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates, 3rd ed. Volume II (of 4)|George Grote
Immorality, in being, by his doctrines and instructions, a "corruptor of youth."
On Liberty|John Stuart Mill

He takes commendable interest in the training of youth, and has indicted me as a corruptor of youth.
Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates, 3rd ed. Volume I (of 4)|George Grote

British Dictionary definitions for corruptor

corrupt

/ (kəˈrʌpt) /

adjective

lacking in integrity; open to or involving bribery or other dishonest practicesa 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

verb

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)

Derived Forms

corrupter or corruptor, nouncorruptive, adjectivecorruptively, adverbcorruptly, adverb

corruptness, noun

Word Origin for corrupt

C14: from Latin corruptus spoiled, from corrumpere to ruin, literally: break to pieces, from rumpere to break

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

Word Origin and History for corruptor

corrupt

adj.

mid-14c., from Old French corropt "unhealthy, corrupt; uncouth" (of language), and directly from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere "to destroy; spoil," figuratively "corrupt, seduce, bribe," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + rup-, past participle stem of rumpere "to break" (see rupture (n.)). Related: Corruptly; corruptness.

corrupt

mid-14c., "contaminate, impair the purity of," from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere (see corrupt (adj.)). Late 14c. as "pervert the meaning of," also "putrefy." Related: Corrupted; corrupting.

corrupt

adjective

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Nearby words

Origin of corrupt

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for corruptor

corrupt

adjective

verb

Word Origin for corrupt

corrupt

corrupt