Definition

1. Noun:
   • Dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery: The act of inducing someone, especially a public official, to act improperly by offering money or other incentives.
   • The process of decay; putrefaction: The state of being decomposed or rotten, especially in organic matter.
   • Moral deterioration; depravity: The process by which someone or something becomes morally debased or perverted.
   • The process of becoming corrupted or making something erroneous: The act of changing something from its original, correct form to an incorrect or debased version.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The investigation uncovered widespread corruption in the city government.
  • The corruption of the wooden beams made the structure unsafe.
  • He argued that the film's violence would lead to the corruption of young minds.
  • The corruption of the ancient text made it difficult for scholars to interpret.

Advanced Usage

• "A corruption of": A debased or erroneous form of something.
  • The local dialect is a corruption of the original language.
• "To be riddled with corruption": To be thoroughly full of or damaged by dishonest practices.
  • The organization was riddled with corruption from top to bottom.

Variants and Related Words

• Corrupt (verb): To cause to become dishonest or immoral; to debase.
  • Power has the potential to corrupt even the most honest person.
• Corrupt (adjective): Willing to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain; morally depraved.
  • The corrupt official was sentenced to prison.
• Corruptible (adjective): Capable of being corrupted.
  • He was seen as a corruptible individual who could be bribed.
• Corruptness (noun): The state or quality of being corrupt.

Synonyms

• Dishonesty: Lack of honesty or integrity.
• Decay: The process of rotting or decomposition.
• Depravity: Moral corruption; wickedness.
• Degeneracy: The state of being degenerate; decline to a lower state.

Related Phrases

• Political corruption: The use of powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain.
• Data corruption: Errors in computer data that occur during writing, reading, storage, transmission, or processing.

Related Idioms

• The corruption of power: The idea that holding power tends to lead to unethical behavior.
  • The novel explores the classic theme of the corruption of power.
• A canker of corruption: A spreading, corrupting influence (often used metaphorically).
  • The scandal was a canker of corruption that infected the entire department.

Noun

1. inducement (as of a public official) by improper means (as bribery) to violate duty (as by commiting a felony)
   • he was held on charges of corruption and racketeering
2. destroying someone's (or some group's) honesty or loyalty; undermining moral integrity
   • corruption of a minor
   • the big city's subversion of rural innocence
3. moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles
   • the luxury and corruption among the upper classes
   • moral degeneracy followed intellectual degeneration
   • its brothels, its opium parlors, its depravity
   • Rome had fallen into moral putrefaction
4. decay of matter (as by rot or oxidation)
5. in a state of progressive putrefaction
6. lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain