realNEO Word of the Day: Corrupt [kuh-ruhpt]

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cor·rupt  [kuh-ruhpt]

—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.

–adjective
    1. guilty of dishonest practices, as bribery; lacking integrity; crooked: a corrupt judge.
    2. 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.

–verb (used with object)
    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.  English Law . to subject (an attainted person) to corruption of blood.
        
–verb (used without object)
   13. to become corrupt.

Word Origin & History

corrupt
        c.1300, from L. corruptus,  pp. of corrumpere  "to destroy, spoil, bribe," from com-  intens. prefix + rup-,  pp. stem of rumpere  "to break" (see rupture).
        Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
          
Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: 1 cor·rupt
Function: adjective
:  having an unlawful or evil motive; especially :  characterized by improper and usually unlawful conduct intended to secure a benefit for oneself or another (as by taking or giving bribes) — cor·rupt·ly adjective  — cor·rupt·ness noun

Main Entry: 2 corrupt
Function: transitive verb
1 :  to change from good to bad in principles or moral values < corrupt ing  a minor>
2 :  to subject (a person) to corruption of blood — cor·rup·ti·bil·i·ty /k&-"r&p-t&-'bi-l&-tE/ noun  — cor·rup·ti·ble /k&-'r&p-t&-b&l/ adjective  — cor·rup·ti·bly adverb  — cor·rup·tion /k&-'r&p-sh&n/ noun

World English Dictionary
corrupt  (kəˈrʌpt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
     
— adj
    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.     contaminated; unclean
    5.     (of a text or manuscript) made meaningless or different in meaning from the original by scribal errors or alterations
    6.     (of computer programs or data) containing errors
     
    — vb
    7.     to become or cause to become dishonest or disloyal
    8.     to debase or become debased morally; deprave
    9.     ( tr ) to infect or contaminate; taint
    10.     ( tr ) to cause to become rotten
    11.     ( tr ) to alter (a text, manuscript, etc) from the original
    12.     ( tr ) computing  to introduce errors into (data or a program)
     
    [C14: from Latin corruptus  spoiled, from corrumpere  to ruin, literally: break to pieces, from rumpere  to break]