corrupt

/kə'rʌpt/
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corrupt

A corrupt official accepted a bribe in a dark alley.

Definition

  1. Adjective:

    • Dishonest or immoral, especially involving bribery: A person or system that is "corrupt" uses their power or position for personal gain, often illegally or unethically.
    • Containing errors or alterations: A text, data, or file that is "corrupt" has been damaged or changed from its original, correct state.
    • Tainted by decay or rot (Archaic): Something that is physically spoiled or decomposed. This meaning is now rare.

  2. Verb (transitive):

    • To cause to become dishonest or immoral: To "corrupt" someone means to encourage them to act dishonestly or to lower their moral standards.
    • To bribe: To "corrupt" an official means to influence them illegally with money or favors.
    • To cause errors or damage in data: To "corrupt" a file or system means to cause errors that make it unusable or altered.
    • To alter from the original in a bad way: To "corrupt" a text or language means to change it, introducing mistakes or distortions.
Examples of Usage
  • Adjective:
    • The investigation revealed a corrupt official who accepted bribes.
    • I cannot open the document because the file is corrupt.
    • The dictator ruled over a corrupt regime.
  • Verb:
    • Power can corrupt even the most idealistic people.
    • They tried to corrupt the judge with offers of money.
    • A virus corrupted all the data on my computer.
    • The original story was corrupted by years of inaccurate retelling.
Advanced Usage
  • "To be corrupt to the core": To be completely and thoroughly dishonest or immoral.
    • The organization was corrupt to the core and had to be disbanded.
  • "The corrupting influence of...": Describes something that causes moral decline.
    • Parents worried about the corrupting influence of violent video games.
Variants and Related Words
  • Corruption (n): The act or state of being corrupt.
    • Political corruption is a major problem.
  • Corruptible (adj): Able to be corrupted or bribed.
    • He was seen as a corruptible politician.
  • Incorruptible (adj): Incapable of being corrupted, especially by bribery.
    • The judge had a reputation for being incorruptible.
Synonyms
  • Adjective: Dishonest, fraudulent, unscrupulous, depraved, rotten.
  • Verb: Bribe, suborn, debauch, pervert, debase, taint, spoil.
Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)
  • Corrupt with: To use something specific to cause corruption.
    • He was corrupted with promises of wealth and power.
Related Idioms
  • Absolute power corrupts absolutely: A saying meaning that a person with complete power is very likely to misuse it.
    • The history of many rulers proves that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
  • The apple doesn't fall far from the tree: Often used when a child shows the same bad (corrupt) qualities as a parent.
    • He's as dishonest as his father—the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
corrupt

A corrupt official accepted a bribe in a dark alley.

Adjective
  1. touched by rot or decay
    • tainted bacon
    • `corrupt' is archaic
  2. containing errors or alterations
    • a corrupt text
    • spoke a corrupted version of the language
  3. not straight; dishonest or immoral or evasive
  4. lacking in integrity
    • humanity they knew to be corrupt...from the day of Adam's creation
    • a corrupt and incompetent city government
Verb
  1. alter from the original
  2. place under suspicion or cast doubt upon
    • sully someone's reputation
  3. make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence
    • This judge can be bought
  4. corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality
    • debauch the young people with wine and women
    • Socrates was accused of corrupting young men
    • Do school counselors subvert young children?
    • corrupt the morals

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