What does "corruption" mean?
The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity.
Corruption
/kəˈɹʌpʃən/ noun
noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity.
- Grammar: corruption is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: depravation, abandon, abandonment, abasement.
- Useful contrasts: civil improvement measures, good governance, important personal trait.
- Usage evidence: The politician pushed for reform by denouncing the corruption of the government officials.
How to use "corruption"
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- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "corruption" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "corruption" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "corruption" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity. countable, uncountable
"It was necessary, by exposing the gross corruptions of monasteries, […] to exite popular indignation against them."
- 2 inducement (as of a public official) by improper means (as bribery) to violate duty (as by committing a felony) wordnet
- 3 The act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid; decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction; putrefaction; deterioration. countable, uncountable
"The inducing and accelerating of putrefaction is a subject of very universal inquiry; for corruption is a reciprocal to generation."
- 4 destroying someone's (or some group's) honesty or loyalty; undermining moral integrity wordnet
- 5 The product of corruption; putrid matter. countable, uncountable
"Think of wandering amid sepulchral ruins, of stumbling over the bones of the dead, of encountering what I cannot describe,—the horror of being among those who are neither the living or the dead;—those dark and shadowless things that sport themselves with the reliques of the dead, and feast and love amid corruption,—ghastly, mocking, and terrific."
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles wordnet
- 7 The decomposition of biological matter. countable, uncountable
- 8 lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain wordnet
- 9 Unethical administrative or executive practices (in government or business), including bribery (offering or receiving bribes), conflicts of interest, nepotism, embezzlement, and so on. countable, uncountable
- 10 decay of matter (as by rot or oxidation) wordnet
- 11 The destruction of data by manipulation of parts of it, either by deliberate or accidental human action or by imperfections in storage or transmission media. countable, uncountable
"The idea of having a time lag is to allow for situations when a corruption of some type affects the source server. If a corruption occurs, you do not want it to replicate to the copy of the database, so the time lag gives administrators the opportunity to recognize that a problem exists and then to have the ability to switch from the database copy if the corruption is so bad that it renders the original database unusable."
- 12 in a state of progressive putrefaction wordnet
- 13 The act of changing, or of being changed, for the worse; departure from what is pure, simple, or correct. countable, uncountable
"a corruption of style"
- 14 A nonstandard form of a word, expression, or text, especially when resulting from misunderstanding, transcription error, or mishearing. (See a usage note about this sense.) countable, uncountable
"The affix ty, like té, Fr., ta, It., dad, Sp., is a corruption of the Latin affix tas, tat, and Greek tes; as bounty, bonté, Fr., bonta, It., bondad, Sp., bonitas from bonus, good; vanity, vanité, Fr., vanita, It., vanidad, Sp, vanitas from vanus, vain."
- 15 Something originally good or pure that has turned evil or impure; a perversion. countable, uncountable
"God creates and produces them, but it is according to the Laws of this Species of Beings who were made to propagate one another, so that in this Production earthly Parents are the Instruments. And how far they may be the Instruments in conveying a Corruption or Pravity, is what we cannot distinctly explain; but to make this alone a Rason for denying it, would argue great Rashness and want of Reflection."
Antonyms
civil improvement measuresgood governanceimportant personal traitpolitical institutions
Example
"The politician pushed for reform by denouncing the corruption of the government officials."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "corruption"?
Common synonyms include: depravation, abandon, abandonment, abasement, abjection, abomination.
How do you use "corruption" in a sentence?
The politician pushed for reform by denouncing the corruption of the government officials.
How do you pronounce "corruption"?
Pronounced /kəˈɹʌpʃən/.
Etymology
Borrowed from French corruption, from Latin corruptiō, equivalent to corrupt + -ion.