debauch
Americanverb (used with object)
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debauches,
present (3rd person singular)
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debauched,
past participle, past
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debauching
present participle
-
to corrupt by sensuality, intemperance, etc.; seduce.
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to corrupt or pervert; sully.
His honesty was debauched by the prospect of easy money.
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Archaic. to lead away, as from allegiance or duty.
verb (used without object)
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debauches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
debauched,
past participle, past
-
debauching
present participle
noun
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a period of wanton or sensual self-indulgence.
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an uninhibited spree or party; orgy.
a wild debauch.
verb
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(when tr, usually passive) to lead into a life of depraved self-indulgence
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(tr) to seduce (a woman)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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debauchsimple
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debauchessimple
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have debauchedperfect
-
has debauchedperfect
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am debauchingprogressive
-
are debauchingprogressive
-
is debauchingprogressive
-
have been debauchingperfect progressive
-
has been debauchingperfect progressive
Past
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debauchedsimple
-
had debauchedperfect
-
was debauchingprogressive
-
were debauchingprogressive
-
had been debauchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of debauch
First recorded in 1585–95; from French débaucher “to entice away from duty, debauch,” Old French desbauchier “to disperse, scatter,” equivalent to des- dis- 1 + -bauchier, derivative of bauc, bauch beam (from Germanic; see balcony, balk; compare French ébaucher “to rough-hew”); hence, presumably, “to hew (beams),” becoming “to split, separate,” becoming “to separate from work or duty”
Explanation
Debauch means to destroy or corrupt someone's morals. Overnight fame and wealth might debauch a previously mild-mannered and altruistic actor. As a noun, debauch refers to a wild party characterized by excess. The old-fashioned meaning of debauch involved antiquated ideas about virtue and the idea that a person's "moral purity" could be corrupted. Today this word is mostly used when a person's integrity or principles are corrupted, often under the influence of money or power. You might say that artists debauch themselves when their designs show up on mass produced T-shirts. As a noun, debauch refers to an out-of-control party — in other words, a gathering at which one's morals might be corrupted.
Vocabulary lists containing debauch
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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.
See Examples For:
“I did really debauch myself to achieve a visual at the time” is how he remembers it.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 15, 2016
The standout was beef stroganoff, a debauch of heavy cream.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2015
We’ve not had a debasement of the currency, a debauch of the exchange rate, so those fears and warnings aren’t all that well founded.
From Forbes ● Feb. 13, 2015
Lastly, the Gabfest crew takes a look at Google’s new smartphone for your face, Google Glass: Will it extend our human powers or finally debauch them for good?
From Slate ● May 22, 2013
The music, the anthem of Saturday night debauch, filtered to them through the jail stones that now enveloped them, isolated them with Junior Palmer.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Huston filmed Sodom dimly lit, and shied clear of the debauches of DeMille's epics.
From Time Magazine Archive
Thus the devil thrives in proportion, is always ready to enrich the rich man with ruin, the wise man with folly, the beautiful woman with degradation, the kind, average man with debauches of savagery.
From Time Magazine Archive
Inflation, of course, debauches a currency by reducing its purchasing power.
From Time Magazine Archive
Other practically sure signs of neurosis: fear of not being able to draw a deep breath, burning in the abdomen, repeated belching, stomachaches after "emotional debauches," "distresses that come before breakfast."
From Time Magazine Archive
Sometimes he wondered how the Doctor and The Roman could remain ignorant of the extent of his debauches, his transgressions were so daring and so complete.
From The Varmint by Frederic Rodrigo Gruger
The cinematic language suggests that Burning Man may be debauched, pointless and a massive indulgence, but that it also champions decadence in pursuit of freedom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Sylvanian Families has become embroiled in a legal battle with a TikTok creator who makes comedic videos of the children's toys in dark and debauched storylines.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025
From their earliest shared Lunchables through debauched bachelorette parties right up to the Golden Girls years, women bond with intensity.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2025
Peter Schickele, an American composer whose career as a writer of serious concert music was often eclipsed by that of his antic alter ego, the thoroughly debauched, terrifyingly prolific and mercifully fictional P.D.Q.
From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2024
Horrible, debauched, mouth limp and cracked, loose against the teeth as an ancient dog’s.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
Germany, haunted by the experience of hyperinflation in 1923 and after World War Two, is deeply fearful of debauching the central bank by printing money to lend to governments.
From Reuters ● Nov. 28, 2011
The graver peril is that the precious-metals fever will sap more and more confidence in paper money, debauching its value.
From Time Magazine Archive
His novel is a grotesque, exciting and impudent tale of student ribaldry, army debauching and mystic romance.
From Time Magazine Archive
Chiefly, to be sure, by debauching the soldiers from their officers.
From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 03 (of 12) by Edmund Burke
In the first six months of the publication of my story the sole defence the "System" entered against my specific and terrible charges of plunder and debauching of the people was to attack me personally.
From Frenzied Finance Vol. 1: The Crime of Amalgamated by Thomas William Lawson
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.
