debauched

[dih-bawcht]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR debauched ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

displaying the effect of excessive indulgence in sensual pleasure: a flabby and debauched face.

corrupted; debased: debauched morals.

Origin of debauched

First recorded in 1590–1600; debauch + -ed²

Related formsde·bauch·ed·ly

[dih-baw-chid-lee] /dɪˈbɔ tʃɪd li/, adverbde·bauch·ed·ness, nounun·de·bauched, adjective

Synonyms for debauched

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR debauched ON THESAURUS.COM

2. depraved, dissipated, profligate; immoral.

debauch

[dih-bawch]

verb (used with object)

to corrupt by sensuality, intemperance, etc.; seduce.

to corrupt or pervert; sully: His honesty was debauched by the prospect of easy money.

Archaic. to lead away, as from allegiance or duty.

verb (used without object)

to indulge in debauchery.

noun

a period of wanton or sensual self-indulgence.

an uninhibited spree or party; orgy: a wild debauch.

Origin of debauch

1585–95; < 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 (< Germanic; see balcony, balk; compare French ébaucher to rough-hew); hence, presumably, to hew (beams) > to split, separate > to separate from work or duty

Related formsde·bauch·er, nounde·bauch·ment, noun

Can be confuseddebauch debouch

Synonyms for debauch

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR debauch ON THESAURUS.COM

1. See debase.

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

Related Words for debauched

wanton, debased, degenerate, reprobate, fast, depraved, dissipated, deteriorated, vitiate, perverted, corrupt, defiled, degraded, abandoned, dissolute, immoral, licentious, profligate, wicked

Examples from the Web for debauched

Contemporary Examples of debauched

When Druz visited Crimea before, he said, he felt disturbed by the debauched atmosphere.
Putin's Crimea Is a Big Anti-Gay Casino
Anna Nemtsova
September 8, 2014
Will readers ever get enough of the debauched, smoke-filled nightclubs of wartime Europe?
French Lesbian Auto-Racer Turns Nazi Spy: Francine Prose’s Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932
Jessica Ferri
April 23, 2014
He and McAvoy embark on debauched trip to Germany which unfolds manically to the soundtrack of “99 Red Balloons.”
The Movie ‘Filth’ Is Fun!
Nico Hines
October 1, 2013
But she hits the mark more than she misses, e.g., a debauched rock star is described as looking like “a Pierrot gone bad.”
J.K. Rowling’s Hardboiled Hoax
Malcolm Jones
July 17, 2013
Kennan would later complain that his idea was debauched by the Truman administration.
George Kennan by John Lewis Gaddis: A Review
Jacob Heilbrunn
December 9, 2011

Historical Examples of debauched

Marry, you are right; you make an engrossing topic—you and your debauched father.
The Sea-Hawk
Raphael Sabatini
Therefore,” inferred Socrates, “the debauched are in a miserable slavery.
The Memorable Thoughts of Socrates
Xenophon
You believe, then,” said Socrates, “that debauched persons are not free?
The Memorable Thoughts of Socrates
Xenophon
The corrupter of a Prince; the fellow who debauched and degraded him!'
Gerald Fitzgerald
Charles James Lever
Wherever the Indians were most debauched, there was he in the midst of them.
History of the Moravian Church
J. E. Hutton

British Dictionary definitions for debauched

debauch

verb

(when tr, usually passive) to lead into a life of depraved self-indulgence

(tr) to seduce (a woman)

noun

an instance or period of extreme dissipation

Derived Formsdebauchedly (dɪˈbɔːtʃɪdlɪ), adverbdebauchedness, noundebaucher, noundebauchery or debauchment, noun

Word Origin for debauch

C16: from Old French desbaucher to corrupt, literally: to shape (timber) roughly, from bauch beam, of Germanic origin

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 debauched

debauch

1590s, from Middle French débaucher "entice from work or duty," from Old French desbaucher "to lead astray," supposedly literally "to trim (wood) to make a beam" (from bauch "beam," from Frankish balk or some other Germanic source akin to English balk). A sense of "shaving" something away, perhaps, but the root is also said to be a word meaning "workshop," which gets toward the notion of "to lure someone off the job;" either way the sense evolution is unclear.