corruption

noun

cor·​rup·​tion kə-ˈrəp-shən How to pronounce corruption (audio)
1
a
: dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people (such as government officials or police officers) : depravity
b
: inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (such as bribery)
the corruption of government officials
c
: a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct
the corruption of a text
the corruption of computer files
d
: decay, decomposition
the corruption of a carcass
2
chiefly dialectal : pus
3
archaic : an agency or influence that corrupts

Examples of corruption in a Sentence

There are rumors of widespread corruption in the city government. the mafia's corruption of public officials corruption of the English language computer software that is supposed to prevent the corruption of files the corruption of a text
Recent Examples on the Web For the prior five years Blazer had been an undercover operative for the federal government in a sweeping investigation of corruption in college sports. Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024 Assistant District Attorney Matthew Westphal, who oversees public corruption cases, declined to comment on whether his office has received the complaint. Journal Sentinel, 22 Mar. 2024 The move has raised questions for Bailey, specifically about why his office would remove the form and whether its removal might discourage people from filing complaints in cases of public corruption. Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024 His resignation came days after the former chief of Quang Ngai province, in central Vietnam, was arrested on suspicion of corruption. Elaine Kurtenbach, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024 The study also takes into account six key variables which contribute to explaining life evaluations, including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption. Jon Haworth, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2024 The 2010s saw trust in government reach its lowest point as wages stagnated, financial crises rocked the European Union, and corruption roiled developing nations. Jacob Turcotte, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Mar. 2024 That’s a challenge for any country, particularly one whose history has been marred by a multibillion dollar corruption scandal involving its sovereign wealth fund. Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 Navalny founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation in 2011 to investigate alleged corruption by high-ranking Russian officials, including and increasingly by those within the Kremlin elite. Sammy Westfall, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'corruption.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see corrupt entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of corruption was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near corruption

Cite this Entry

“Corruption.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corruption. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

corruption

noun
cor·​rup·​tion kə-ˈrəp-shən How to pronounce corruption (audio)
1
: physical decay or rotting
2
: dishonest or evil behavior
3
: the causing of someone else to do wrong (as by bribery)
4
: a change from the original or for the worse

More from Merriam-Webster on corruption

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