noun
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Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of depravity
Explanation
Depravity goes beyond mere bad behavior — it is a total lack of morals, values, and even regard for other living things, like the depravity of a serial killer. You can see the verb deprave in depravity. To deprave is to make something bad, often to the point of moral corruption, like the parental fear that a bad influence will deprave their good kids. So, depravity is behavior that is morally corrupt or otherwise deemed wicked. Don't confuse depravity with deprivation, meaning "being denied something that is necessary."
Vocabulary lists containing depravity
The Scarlet Letter
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave" Vocabulary from the autobiography
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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:
Cavalcanti’s, no less brilliant in its execution, looks through the glass darkly, with painful scenes of long-ago squalor and depravity that sadly echo our own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Even Tina Fey has joked about Fennell’s fondness for sudden depravity.
From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2026
While depravity is omnipresent, that doesn’t mean it’s all-consuming.
From Salon ● Dec. 5, 2025
That 2013 Respect at Work review looked into BBC culture in light of Jimmy Savile's depravity.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2025
When Mom wakes me up for evening prayers, I’m clutching an old Franklin Covey agenda, one that contains a series of arguments to prove Caliban’s depravity.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
Townsfolk sought separation from the depravities of Rancho Izaguirre.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025
Just listen to the seething passions and depravities of “Wise Blood,” Flannery O’Connor’s vicious satire of religiosity in the Deep South, and featuring a menagerie of grotesque characters by Pinchot.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2022
Both play and novel explore the delights — or depravities — of a secret life.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2021
Verbinski’s latest plumbed some more graphic territory than the average studio horror property; the depravities are too good to mention here, but those viewers with sensitive teeth would do well to exercise caution.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 23, 2017
Eisman knew more about that market, its characters, and its depravities than anyone Lippmann had ever spoken with.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
