corrupt

UK: /kəˈrʌpt/ US: /kəˈrʌpt/ ,(kə rupt′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

cor•rupt /kəˈrʌpt/   adj. 

1. Law guilty of dishonest practices:
   a corrupt judge.
2. Law immoral;
   depraved:
   corrupt sexual practices; a corrupt society.
3. made inferior or unusable by errors or damage, such as a text:
   The electronic file was corrupt.

v. [~ + object]

4. to cause to be ruined;
   pervert:
   to corrupt youth.
5. to infect;
   taint:
   Columbus was accused of corrupting Indian cultures.

cor•rupt•er, cor•rup•tor, n. [countable]
cor•rupt•i•ble, adj. 
cor•rupt•ly, adv. 
cor•rupt•ness, n. [uncountable] See -rupt-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cor•rupt  (kə rupt′), adj. 

1. Law guilty of dishonest practices, as bribery;
   lacking integrity;
   crooked:
   a corrupt judge.
2. Law debased in character;
   depraved;
   perverted;
   wicked;
   evil:
   a corrupt society.
3. made inferior by errors or alterations, as a text.
4. infected;
   tainted.
5. decayed;
   putrid.

v.t. 

6. to destroy the integrity of;
   cause to be dishonest, disloyal, etc., esp. by bribery.
7. to lower morally;
   pervert:
   to corrupt youth.
8. to alter (a language, text, etc.) for the worse;
   debase.
9. to mar;
   spoil.
10. to infect;
    taint.
11. to make putrid or putrescent.
12. [Eng. Law.] to subject (an attainted person) to corruption of blood.

v.i. 

13. to become corrupt.

• Latin corruptus broken in pieces, corrupted (past participle of corrumpere), equivalent. to cor- cor- + rup- (variant stem of rumpere to break) + -tus past participle suffix
• Anglo-French)
• Middle English (1250–1300

cor•rupt′ed•ly, adv. 
cor•rupt′ed•ness, n. 
cor•rupt′er, cor•rup′tor, n. 
cor•rup′tive, adj. 
cor•rup′tive•ly, adv. 
cor•rupt′ly, adv. 
cor•rupt′ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. false, untrustworthy.
  Corrupt, dishonest, venal apply to one, esp. in public office, who acts on mercenary motives, without regard to honor, right, or justice. A corrupt politician is one originally honest who has succumbed to temptation and begun questionable practices. A dishonest politician is one lacking native integrity. A venal politician is one so totally debased as to sell patronage.
• 3, 4. contaminated.
• 4, 5. putrescent, rotten, spoiled.
• 6. demoralize, bribe.
• 7. debase, vitiate.
• 10. contaminate, pollute, spoil, defile.
• 11. putrefy.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

corrupt / kəˈrʌpt/ adjective

1. lacking in integrity; open to or involving bribery or other dishonest practices: a corrupt official, corrupt practices in an election
2. morally depraved
3. putrid or rotten
4. (of a text or manuscript) made meaningless or different in meaning from the original by scribal errors or alterations
5. (of computer programs or data) containing errors

verb

1. to become or cause to become dishonest or disloyal
2. to debase or become debased morally; deprave
3. (transitive) to infect or contaminate; taint
4. (transitive) to cause to become rotten
5. (transitive) to alter (a text, manuscript, etc) from the original
6. (transitive) to introduce errors into (data or a program)

Etymology: 14th Century: from Latin corruptus spoiled, from corrumpere to ruin, literally: break to pieces, from rumpere to break

corˈrupter, corˈruptor noun

corˈruptly adverb

corˈruptness noun