corrupting


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cor·rupt

 (kə-rŭpt′)
adj.
1. Marked by immorality and perversion; depraved.
2. Venal or dishonest: a corrupt mayor.
3. Containing errors or alterations, especially ones that prevent proper understanding or use: a corrupt translation; a corrupt computer file.
4. Archaic Tainted; putrid.
v. cor·rupt·ed, cor·rupt·ing, cor·rupts
v.tr.
1. To ruin morally; pervert: "The argument that modern life consists of a menu of horrors by which we are corrupted ... is a founding idea of the critique of modernity" (Susan Sontag).
2. To destroy or subvert the honesty or integrity of, as by offering bribes: "Our politics has been corrupted by money and suffused with meanness" (Peter Edelman).
3.
a. To cause to become rotten; spoil: "There was a strange smell in the room, high and slightly sweet, like perfume corrupted in the bottle" (Bella Bathurst).
b. Archaic To render impure; contaminate.
4.
a. To alter from original or proper form: "Strangers named them the Chippewa, which was corrupted to Ojibway" (Paul Theroux).
b. Computers To damage (data) in a file or on a disk.
v.intr.
To become corrupt.

[Middle English, from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere, to destroy : com-, intensive pref.; see com- + rumpere, to break; see reup- in Indo-European roots.]

cor·rupt′er, cor·rup′tor n.
cor·rup′tive adj.
cor·rupt′ly adv.
cor·rupt′ness n.
Synonyms: corrupt, debase, debauch, deprave, pervert, vitiate
These verbs mean to ruin utterly in character or quality: was corrupted by power; debased himself by taking the bribe; a youth debauched by drugs; led a life depraved by sensual indulgence; perverted her talent by her pursuit of commercial success; a laudable goal vitiated by dishonest means.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.corrupting - seducing into corrupt practices
seductive - tending to entice into a desired action or state
2.corrupting - harmful to the mind or morals; "corrupt judges and their corrupting influence"; "the vicious and degrading cult of violence"
noxious - injurious to physical or mental health; "noxious chemical wastes"; "noxious ideas"
3.corrupting - that infects or taints
infectious - easily spread; "fear is exceedingly infectious; children catch it from their elders"- Bertrand Russell
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
This is his way of corrupting the youth, which he will not cease to follow in obedience to the god, even if a thousand deaths await him.
"If there is any guilt in the case!" answered Allworthy warmly: "Are you then so profligate and abandoned a libertine to doubt whether the breaking the laws of God and man, the corrupting and ruining a poor girl be guilt?
I only hope that no friend or kinsman or acquaintance of mine, whether citizen or stranger, will ever be so mad as to allow himself to be corrupted by them; for they are a manifest pest and corrupting influence to those who have to do with them.