deprave
Americanverb (used with object)
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depraves,
present (3rd person singular)
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depraved,
past participle, past
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depraving
present participle
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to make morally bad or evil; vitiate; corrupt.
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Obsolete. to defame.
verb
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to make morally bad; corrupt; vitiate
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obsolete to defame; slander
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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depravesimple
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depravessimple
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have depravedperfect
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has depravedperfect
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am depravingprogressive
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are depravingprogressive
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is depravingprogressive
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have been depravingperfect progressive
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has been depravingperfect progressive
Past
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depravedsimple
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had depravedperfect
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was depravingprogressive
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were depravingprogressive
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had been depravingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deprave
1325–75; Middle English depraven (< Anglo-French ) < Latin dēprāvāre to pervert, corrupt, equivalent to dē- de- + prāv ( us ) crooked + -āre infinitive suffix
Explanation
Use the verb deprave as a more dramatic synonym for corrupt: Some parents in the 1980s feared that heavy metal music would deprave their innocent children. You have probably heard the expression "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach," meaning the sense of taste, when triggered, can inflame feelings like love and passion. Taken to extremes, though, too much indulging of any of the senses can make someone depraved, addicted to or fixated on feeling good. This pursuit of excess is the opposite of a word that sounds and looks like depraved: deprived.
Vocabulary lists containing deprave
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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 don't think you should censor books but there is this strange anomaly - it's common sense that films can deprave and corrupt, and that books can't."
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2012
It has been 14 years since China officially banned console video games, worrying the living-room boxes would dumb down or deprave the brains of Chinese youth.
From Washington Post
The legal definition of obscenity in Great Britain is that which tends "to deprave and corrupt."
From Time Magazine Archive
On the contrary it would so deprave our currency that it would bring ruin, particularly to the wage earners of the country and those on fixed salaries.
From Time Magazine Archive
The humors and distempers of the body likewise deprave, disorder, and discompose the soul.
From Christianity and Greek Philosophy or, the relation between spontaneous and reflective thought in Greece and the positive teaching of Christ and His Apostles by B. F. (Benjamin Franklin) Cocker
Vice; for it depraves the best things we enjoy.
From Complete Works of Plutarch — Volume 3: Essays and Miscellanies by Plutarch
The education of life perfects the thinking mind, but depraves the frivolous.—Mme. de Staël.
From Pearls of Thought by Maturin Murray Ballou
Civilisation, in this case, depraves the birds, as often it does men.
From The Truth About Woman by C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine) Hartley
This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.
From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 1 by Thomas Jefferson Randolph
It is the masters of slaves, not the slaves, who are deficient in self-rule; and slavery is doubly detestable, because it depraves the masters.
From Phases of Faith Passages from the History of My Creed by Francis William Newman
You would respect the movie more if it stuck with its depraved indifference to civilized behavior, rather than attempting a death-bed conversion to decency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
He seemed to savor the chance to go deeper, to look more closely at our innate capacity for acts both moral and depraved.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
He also accused Donaldson of telling lies many times over the years and added, he never imagined the former party leader could have been so "depraved".
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Yet its parties, even at their most decadent and depraved, were never quite cool.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026
“Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes.”
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Consequently its real action, always in contradiction of the humanitarian theories which it professes, has constantly exercised a disastrous and depraving influence.
From God and the State by Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin
For this purpose a section is added upon human life and manners; in which he is cautioned against the danger of indulging his passions, of vitiating his habits, and depraving his sentiments.
From The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 05 Miscellaneous Pieces by Samuel Johnson
The hardening, deadening power of depraving habits and customs was strikingly illustrated by the Romans.
From Architects of Fate or, Steps to Success and Power by Orison Swett Marden
So, whatever else we do by our acts, we are making our own characters, either steadily depraving or steadily improving them.
From Expositions of Holy Scripture Isaiah and Jeremiah by Alexander Maclaren
These ordures are rapidly depraving the public taste, and lessening its relish for sound food.
From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 4 by Thomas Jefferson Randolph
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