corruption
Pluralcorruptions (some meanings)
- 1Dishonest behavior by people in power, like taking bribes or giving jobs to friends.
Like a referee who secretly takes money to help one team win.
Voters were angry about the corruption in their city government.
The new mayor promised to fight corruption among local officials.
Similarbribery, graft, dishonesty, fraud, venality
Oppositeintegrity, honesty, probity
Note
- 2The act of making someone or something lose its good values, or the state of having lost them.
Like a clean stream slowly turning dirty as waste flows into it.
The corruption of his honest nature happened slowly over the years.
Too much power can lead to the corruption of even good leaders.
Similardebasement, degradation, perversion, depravity
Note
- 3A change that makes something worse, moving it away from its pure or correct form.
Like a recipe that gets worse each time someone changes it carelessly.
Many fans saw the corruption of the classic story in the new movie.
The corruption of traditional methods left the work much sloppier.
Similardebasement, distortion, perversion, degeneration, adulteration
- 4Damage to computer data that changes or destroys parts of it.
Like a photo that gets scratched so parts of the picture are missing.
A sudden power failure caused data corruption on the hard drive.
We lost the files because of corruption in the backup copy.
Similardamage
Note
- 5A wrong form of a word or phrase that comes from mishearing or copying it incorrectly.
Like a whispered message that changes a little each time someone repeats it.
The word 'cockroach' is a corruption of the Spanish word 'cucaracha.'
That spelling is just a corruption of an older word people misheard.
Similaralteration, distortion
Note
- 6A good or pure thing that has turned evil or twisted.
Like a sweet fruit that has rotted into something foul.
The dictator's rule was a corruption of the revolution's original ideals.
What began as a charity became a corruption of its founder's dream.
Similarperversion, travesty, distortion, debasement
Note
- 7The process of rotting or breaking down, or the state of being rotten.
Like fruit slowly going soft and brown until it falls apart.
The corruption of the meat filled the room with a terrible smell.
Heat speeds up the corruption of food that is left outside.
Similardecay, putrefaction, rot, decomposition, rotting
Note
- 8The breaking down of plant or animal matter after it dies.
Like leaves turning into dark soil on the forest floor.
The corruption of fallen leaves slowly enriches the forest soil.
Cold temperatures slow the corruption of dead plants and animals.
Similardecomposition, decay, rotting, breakdown
- 9The rotten matter that is left behind when something decays.
Like the slimy goo left behind by spoiled food.
The wound was full of corruption and had to be cleaned out.
A foul corruption oozed from the rotting log.
Similarpus, rot, putrescence
Practice
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Origin
It came from French corruption, which came from the Latin word corruptiō.