turpitude

[ tur-pi-tood, -tyood ]

/ ˈtɜr pɪˌtud, -ˌtyud /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR turpitude ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

vile, shameful, or base character; depravity.

a vile or depraved act.

Nearby words

turp, turpentine, turpentine tree, turpeth, turpin, turpitude, turps, turquoise, turquoise green, turret, turret lathe

Origin of turpitude

1480–90; < Latin turpitūdō, equivalent to turpi(s) base, vile + -tūdō -tude

SYNONYMS FOR turpitude

1 wickedness, vice, vileness, wrongdoing.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR turpitude ON THESAURUS.COM

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

Examples from the Web for turpitude

The turpitude of vice and the majesty of virtue, were as apparent as in older settlements.
A New Guide for Emigrants to the West|J. M. Peck
To each one of these possible cases is assigned its exact moral quality, its exact degree of turpitude and innocency.
Ethics|John Dewey and James Hayden Tufts
Just then, however, writing out the story of his turpitude, she must needs have him in her mind.
The Landloper|Holman Day
Yes, with someone else—she has reached the pitch of turpitude of leaving Florence with her mother.
Alas!|Rhoda Broughton

His power of moral indignation at wrong and turpitude is unimpaired, though it no longer breaks out with the former vehemence.
Transcendentalism in New England|Octavius Brooks Frothingham

British Dictionary definitions for turpitude

turpitude

/ (ˈtɜːpɪˌtjuːd) /

noun

base character or action; depravity

Word Origin for turpitude

C15: from Latin turpitūdō ugliness, from turpis base

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