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definitions

debauch

[ dih-bawch ]
/ dɪˈbɔtʃ /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR debauch ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

RELATED WORDS

libertine, degenerate, scoundrel, Lothario, cad, ravisher

Nearby words

  1. debase,
  2. debasement,
  3. debatable,
  4. debate,
  5. debater,
  6. debauched,
  7. debauchee,
  8. debaucherous,
  9. debauchery,
  10. debbie

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

Examples from the Web for debaucher

  • What surprises me yet more is, that some would believe that Socrates was a debaucher of young men!

    The Memorable Thoughts of Socrates|Xenophon

  • Happily they found not that pernicious bane which is alike the corrupter of private morals and the debaucher of nations.

    The Knight of the Golden Melice|John Turvill Adams

  • The desires of a drunkard, a debaucher, are as strong after death as before.

    Ghosts I Have Seen|Violet Tweedale

  • For he is said to be the debaucher of the wives of others; he is the shameless lover and ravisher of a beautiful boy.

    The City of God, Volume I|Aurelius Augustine
British Dictionary definitions for debaucher

debauch

/ (dɪˈbɔːtʃ) /

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 debaucher

debauch

v.

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper