corrupt

• corrumpt (archaic)
• corrump (obsolete)
• corroupt (rare)

From Middle English corrupten, derived from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpō (“to destroy, ruin, injure, spoil, corrupt, bribe”), from com- (“together”) + rumpō (“to break in pieces”).

• IPA^(key): /kəˈɹʌpt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌpt

corrupt (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.

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

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 6:11:

     The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

   • 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, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     At what ease
     Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt
     To swear against you.

3. Abounding in errors; not genuine or correct; in an invalid state.

   The text of the manuscript is corrupt.

   It turned out that the program was corrupt - that's why it wouldn't open.

4. In a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound.
   • 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

     with such corrupt and pestilent bread to feed them.

• corrupted

corrupt (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.

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

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 6:12:

     And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

   • 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:

     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.

2. (archaic, intransitive) To become putrid, tainted, or otherwise impure; to putrefy; to rot.
   • 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 […], →OCLC:

     he entrails, which are the parts aptest to corrupt

   • 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, →OCLC, page 254:

     […] 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."

3. (transitive) To introduce errors; to place into an invalid state.

   Unplugging a flash drive without dismounting it first can corrupt the data stored on the drive.

4. To debase or make impure by alterations or additions; to falsify.

   to corrupt language, or a holy text

   to corrupt a book

5. To waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 6:19:

     Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt.

• corruptible
• corruption
• incorruptible

• “corrupt”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “corrupt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Borrowed from Latin corruptus or from Middle French corrupt.

• IPA^(key): /kɔˈrʏpt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cor‧rupt
• Rhymes: -ʏpt

corrupt (comparative corrupter, superlative corruptst)

1. corrupt (lacking integrity, being prone to discriminating, open to bribes, etc.)

   Het bleek lastig om corrupte topambtenaren uit het bestuursapparaat te verwijderen.

   It turned out to be hard to remove corrupt high-ranking officials from the civil service.

2. (textual criticism) corrupt (containing (many) errors)

   De tekst is op deze plaats zo corrupt dat iedere reconstructie op zand gegrondvest is.

   The text is so corrupt in this passage, that any reconstruction would be built on sand.

3. deprave, morally corrupt

   De Grote Oorlog toonde hem dat de wereldorde corrupt was.

   The Great War showed him that the world order was corrupt.

• corrumperen
• corruptie

• Afrikaans: korrup
• → Indonesian: korup
• → West Frisian: korrupt

Borrowed from Latin corruptus.

corrupt m (feminine singular corrupte, masculine plural corrupts, feminine plural corruptes)

1. corrupt (impure; not in its original form)