Definition of "corrupt"

corrupt

/kəˈɹʌpt/

adjective
comparative more corrupt, superlative most corrupt
1. Willing to act dishonestly for personal gain; accepting bribes.
2. In a depraved state; debased; perverted; morally degenerate; weak in morals.
  Quotations
  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Genesis 6:11
  At what easeMight corrupt minds procure knaves as corruptTo swear against you.
  1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i]
3. Abounding in errors; not genuine or correct; in an invalid state.
4. In a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound.
  Quotations
  with such corrupt and pestilent bread to feed them.
  1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip
verb
third-person singular simple present corrupts, present participle corrupting, simple past and past participle corrupted
1. (transitive) To make corrupt; to change from good to bad; to draw away from the right path; to deprave; to pervert.
  Quotations
  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Genesis 6:12
  I think that there is a bad idea around in our world, and that idea is that 'power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'. I think what really happens is that power attracts the corruptible.
  1985 April 17, Frank Herbert, 34:18 from the start, in Frank Herbert speaking at UCLA 4/17/1985‎, UCLACommStudies, archived from the original on 10 February 2017
2. (archaic, intransitive) To become putrid, tainted, or otherwise impure; to putrefy; to rot.
  Quotations
  he entrails, which are the parts aptest to corrupt
  1631, Francis [Bacon], “VIII. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […]
  […] Lanfrank takes Notice of Tract. 3. Doct. 3. cap. 18. ſaying, "I have ſeen many who being full of Humours, have made an Iſſue under the Knee, before due Purgation had been premis'd; whence, by reaſon of the too great Defluxion of Humours, the Legs tumified, ſo that the cauterized Place corrupted, and a Cancer (or rather cacoethic Ulcer) was thereby made, with which great Difficulty was cur'd."
  1732, George Smith, Institutiones Chirurgicæ: or, Principles of Surgery, [...] To which is Annexed, a Chirurgical Dispensatory, [...], London: Printed [by William Bowyer] for Henry Lintot, at the Cross-Keys against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet, page 254
3. (transitive) To introduce errors; to place into an invalid state.
4. To debase or make impure by alterations or additions; to falsify.
5. To waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.
  Quotations
  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Matthew 6:19

Definition of "corrupt"

corrupt

adjective

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verb

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