improbity
Americannoun
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lack of honesty or moral scruples.
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Obsolete. perseverance.
noun
Etymology
Origin of improbity
First recorded in 1590–1600; im- 2 ( def. ) + probity ( def. )
Explanation
Every supervillain is known for their improbity: dishonesty, immorality, and shadiness. Improbity is a heavy-duty word for a general lack of integrity. A corrupt executive or politician displays improbity by doing things like fraudulently using company or public funds for personal gain. Improbity encompasses any immoral or unethical behavior. Its roots are im-, meaning "not," and the Latin probitas, meaning "honesty" or "uprightness." So while someone with probity is an upstanding person of their word, someone characterized by improbity cannot be trusted.
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.
While that's unlikely to deter loyal Le Pen supporters, traditionally conservative voters, whom she so hopes to attract to her ranks, may be put off by the improbity of it all.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Yet here too there is the stain of intellectual improbity, and it is perhaps all the more mischievous for being partly hidden under the mien of spiritual exaltation.
From On Compromise by John Morley
"Beelzebub" had been floundering in the sea of improbity, holding by a slender life-line to the respectable world that had cast him overboard.
From Cabbages and Kings by O. Henry
Howat was hot and cold, and possessed by a subtle sense of improbity, a feeling resembling that of a doubtful advance through the dark, for a questionable end.
From The Three Black Pennys A Novel by Joseph Hergesheimer
Even in trifles, if the mind and tongue be at variance, there is some kind of improbity.
From Arguments Of Celsus, Porphyry, And The Emperor Julian, Against The Christians Also Extracts from Diodorus Siculus, Josephus, and Tacitus, Relating to the Jews, Together with an Appendix by Thomas Taylor
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
