What does corrupt mean?

Definitions for corrupt
kəˈrʌptcor·rupt

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word corrupt.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. corruptadjective

    lacking in integrity

    "humanity they knew to be corrupt...from the day of Adam's creation"; "a corrupt and incompetent city government"

  2. crooked, corruptadjective

    not straight; dishonest or immoral or evasive

  3. corrupt, corruptedadjective

    containing errors or alterations

    "a corrupt text"; "spoke a corrupted version of the language"

  4. corrupt, taintedverb

    touched by rot or decay

    "tainted bacon"; "`corrupt' is archaic"

  5. corrupt, pervert, subvert, demoralize, demoralise, debauch, debase, profane, vitiate, deprave, misdirectverb

    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"

  6. bribe, corrupt, buy, grease one's palmsverb

    make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence

    "This judge can be bought"

  7. defile, sully, corrupt, taint, cloudverb

    place under suspicion or cast doubt upon

    "sully someone's reputation"

  8. corrupt, spoilverb

    alter from the original

Wiktionary

  1. corruptverb

    To make corrupt; to change from good to bad; to draw away from the right path; to deprave; to pervert.

    Don't you dare corrupt my son with those disgusting pictures!

  2. corruptadjective

    In a depraved state; debased; perverted; morally degenerate; weak in morals.

    The Government here is corrupt, so we'll emigrate to escape them.

  3. corruptadjective

    With lots of errors in it; not genuine or correct; in an invalid state.

  4. corruptadjective

    In a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound.

    Who with such corrupt and pestilent bread would feed them.

  5. Etymology: From corrupten, from corruptus, past participle of corrumpo, from com- + rumpere.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Corruptadjective

    Vitious; tainted with wickedness; without integrity.

    Etymology: from corrupt.

    Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. Eph. iv. 29.

    Corrupt, corrupt, and tainted in desire. William Shakespeare, M. W. of Winds.

    These kind of knaves I know, which in this plainness
    Harbour more craft, and more corrupter ends,
    Than twenty silky ducking observants. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    Some, who have been corrupt in their morals, have yet been infinitely solicitous to have their children piously brought up. Robert South, Sermons.

  2. To CORRUPTverb

    Etymology: corrumpo corruptus, Latin.

    I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Cor. xi. 3.

    Even what things they naturally know, in those very things, as hearts void of reason, they corrupted themselves. Jude, v. 10.

    Evil communications corrupt good manners. 1 Cor. xv. 33.

    All that have miscarried
    By underhand, corrupted, foul injustice. William Shakespeare, Richard III.

    I have heard it said, the fittest time to corrupt a man’s wife, is when she’s fallen out with her husband. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

    But stay, I smell a man of middle earth;
    With tryal fire touch me his finger-end;
    If he be chaste, the flame will back descend,
    And turn him to no pain; but if he start,
    It is the flesh of a corrupted heart. William Shakespeare, M. W. of Windsor.

    Language being the conduit whereby men convey their knowledge, he that makes an ill use of it, though he does not corrupt the fountains of knowledge, which are in things, yet he stops the pipes. John Locke.

    Hear the black trumpet through the world proclaim,
    That not to be corrupted is the shame. Alexander Pope.

  3. To Corruptverb

    To become putrid; to grow rotten; to putrefy.

    The aptness or propension of air or water to corrupt or putrefy, no doubt, is to be found before it break forth into manifest effects of diseases, blasting, or the like. Francis Bacon.

Wikipedia

  1. corrupt

    Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption may involve many activities which include bribery, influence peddling and the embezzlement and it may also involve practices which are legal in many countries. Political corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts with an official capacity for personal gain. Corruption is most common in kleptocracies, oligarchies, narco-states, and mafia states.Corruption and crime are endemic sociological occurrences which appear with regular frequency in virtually all countries on a global scale in varying degrees and proportions. Each individual nation allocates domestic resources for the control and regulation of corruption and the deterrence of crime. Strategies which are undertaken in order to counter corruption are often summarized under the umbrella term anti-corruption. Additionally, global initiatives like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 also have a targeted goal which is supposed to substantially reduce corruption in all of its forms.

ChatGPT

  1. corrupt

    Corrupt generally refers to being dishonest, unethical, or fraudulent, often involving bribery or other forms of illicit gain. It can also mean to change, damage, or ruin something from its original state or purity. This term can be applied to people, systems, data, etc.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Corruptadjective

    changed from a sound to a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound

  2. Corruptadjective

    changed from a state of uprightness, correctness, truth, etc., to a worse state; vitiated; depraved; debased; perverted; as, corrupt language; corrupt judges

  3. Corruptadjective

    abounding in errors; not genuine or correct; as, the text of the manuscript is corrupt

  4. Corruptverb

    to change from a sound to a putrid or putrescent state; to make putrid; to putrefy

  5. Corruptverb

    to change from good to bad; to vitiate; to deprave; to pervert; to debase; to defile

  6. Corruptverb

    to draw aside from the path of rectitude and duty; as, to corrupt a judge by a bribe

  7. Corruptverb

    to debase or render impure by alterations or innovations; to falsify; as, to corrupt language; to corrupt the sacred text

  8. Corruptverb

    to waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless

  9. Corruptverb

    to become putrid or tainted; to putrefy; to rot

  10. Corruptverb

    to become vitiated; to lose putity or goodness

  11. Etymology: [L. corruptus, p. p. of corrumpere to corrupt; cor- + rumpere to break. See Rupture.]

Wikidata

  1. Corrupt

    "Corrupt" was originally intended as the second Angel episode, but the production was abandoned, and instead "Lonely Hearts" was written and produced.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Corrupt

    kor-upt′, v.t. to make putrid: to defile: to mar: to debase: to bribe.—v.i. to rot: to lose purity.—adj. putrid: depraved: defiled: not genuine: full of errors.—ns. Corrupt′er; Corruptibil′ity, Corrupt′ibleness.—adj. Corrupt′ible, liable to be corrupted.—adv. Corrupt′ibly.—ns. Corrup′tion, rottenness: putrid matter: impurity: bribery; Corrup′tionist, one who defends or who practises corruption.—adj. Corrupt′ive, having the quality of corrupting.—adv. Corrupt′ly.—n. Corrupt′ness. [L. cor, inten., and rumpĕre, ruptum, to break.]

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of corrupt in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of corrupt in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of corrupt in a Sentence

  1. Ryan Pack:

    Those who create bad policy, those who enforce bad policy, those who protect and defend bad policy, are corrupt.

  2. Lakshheish M Patel:

    Remember the dialogue of movieWolf of Wall Street that investors profit remains in paper only and brokers will not allow them to book it as they get commission from organization whose shares trade in stock market. However this movie was a crap and boring and did not expose the real corrupt nature of brokerage firms. It seemed to be sponsored by wall street to not to say much and was made for making huge money only

  3. Steven Cheung:

    The President and his counsel will continue to be transparent and cooperative, even in the face of the highly weaponized and corrupt witch-hunt from the Department of Justice. Hillary Clinton was allowed to delete and acid wash 33,000 emails after they were subpoenaed by Congress, yet absolutely nothing has happened to hold her accountable. If the Department of Justice can go after President Trump, they will surely come after any American who they disagree with. President Trump is the only one who stands in the way of the un-American weaponization of law enforcement.

  4. Frank Hargrave:

    An investigation in 1522 suggested that he was corrupt with stories that he had fathered a son ‘with a club foot’ within the local community although these kinds of stories were often fabricated by Henry’s commissioners as they were encouraged to dig up as much dirt as they could, probably to help the dangerous situation in the northwest, a local aristocrat, Sir William Brereton managed to have the Abbot’s death sentence cancelled and he and his canons were pensioned off with the closure of Norton Abbey.

  5. Maine Gov. Paul LePage:

    Beyond the health effects of the federal government’s corrupt food stamp policy is the tragedy of billions in wasted taxpayer dollars that buy candy and soda through a program that was originally designed to reduce hunger. Maine taxpayers see it every day at the grocery store and they are sick and tired of watching their hard-earned money go down the drain.

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Translations for corrupt

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"corrupt." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 21 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/corrupt>.

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