Corruption Meaning
/kəˈɹʌpʃən/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity.
nounThe act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid; decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction; putrefaction; deterioration.
Sentence Examples
The politician pushed for reform by denouncing the corruption of the government officials.
What is most troublesome is the corruption of the best.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The investigation revealed widespread and entrenched ____ within the government.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The politician pushed for reform by denouncing the ____ of the government officials.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French corruption, from Latin corruptiō, equivalent to corrupt + -ion.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It was necessary, by exposing the gross corruptions of monasteries, […] to exite popular indignation against them."
— 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
"They abstained from some of the worst methods of corruption usual to their party in its earlier days."
— 1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:
"But electric vehicles and the batteries that made them run became ensnared in corporate scandals, fraud, and monopolistic corruption that shook the confidence of the nation and inspired automotive upstarts."
— 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion:
"WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets."
— 2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:
"The inducing and accelerating of putrefaction is a subject of very universal inquiry; for corruption is a reciprocal to generation."
— 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The investigation revealed widespread and entrenched ____ within the government.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The politician pushed for reform by denouncing the ____ of the government officials.