corruption

Meanings

Plural: corruptions

Noun

• lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain
• in a state of progressive putrefaction
• decay of matter (as by rot or oxidation)
• moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles
  • "the luxury and corruption among the upper classes"
• destroying someone's (or some group's) honesty or loyalty; undermining moral integrity
  • "corruption of a minor"
• 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"
• The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity.
• The act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid; decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction; putrefaction; deterioration.
• The product of corruption; putrid matter.
• The decomposition of biological matter.
• Unethical administrative or executive practices (in government or business), including bribery (offering or receiving bribes), conflicts of interest, nepotism, embezzlement, and so on.
• 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.
• The act of changing, or of being changed, for the worse; departure from what is pure, simple, or correct.
• 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.)
• Something originally good or pure that has turned evil or impure; a perversion.

Synonyms

adulteration, bastardization, bribery, contamination, corruptness, debasement, decay, decomposition, defilement, degeneracy, depravation, depravity, destroying, deterioration, dirtying, erosion, evil, graft, impurity, putrefaction, putrescence, putridness, rent-seeking, rot, rottenness, rotting, ruining, sinfulness, soiling, spoiling, subversion, tainting, venality, wickedness, worsening

Antonyms

incorruptness

Related Words

corruptocracy