as in degraded
having or showing lowered moral character or standards
corrupt businessmen who are out to fleece the public corrupt business practices that should be investigated
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to rot
to go through decomposition
a dead mouse corrupting in the walls produced a terrible smell
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
some observers believe that grossly violent movies corrupt the people who watch them as well as the people who make them
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to bribe
to influence someone with a bribe
he bragged about having corrupted half of the officials on the city council
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of corrupt
Richard Nephew, Foreign Affairs, 24 Feb. 2025
Are all federal agencies so corrupt and inefficient they must be eliminated?
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 Feb. 2025
Steven Levitsky, Foreign Affairs, 11 Feb. 2025
Putin believes in authoritarianism, in a strong Russian state, in the rehabilitation of the country’s Soviet past, and in a Russian civilization that is superior to a West corrupted by secularism and individualism.
—Rich Lowry, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for corrupt
Adjective
When those corrupt governments fell, the United States lost more than business deals.
—Richard Nephew, Foreign Affairs, 24 Feb. 2025
Are all federal agencies so corrupt and inefficient they must be eliminated?
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 Feb. 2025
Verb
Moreover, much of the Republican Party now embraces the idea that America’s institutions—from the federal bureaucracy and public schools to the media and private universities—have been corrupted by left-wing ideologies.
—Steven Levitsky, Foreign Affairs, 11 Feb. 2025
Putin believes in authoritarianism, in a strong Russian state, in the rehabilitation of the country’s Soviet past, and in a Russian civilization that is superior to a West corrupted by secularism and individualism.
—Rich Lowry, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for corrupt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for corrupt
Adjective
-
Tragically, the Chesapeake remains significantly degraded and its overall water quality has improved only marginally after 41 years.—
Gerald Winegrad,
Baltimore Sun,
10 Feb. 2025
-
Against the backdrop of a degraded web, the improbable success of a volunteer-run website attempting to gather all the world’s knowledge is something to celebrate, not destroy.—
Lila Shroff,
The Atlantic,
5 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Weather and Soil Considerations Dahlia tubers need moisture to grow but will rot in soggy soil.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
27 Feb. 2025
-
Freezing speaks to all of these desires: Frozen vegetables don’t rot in the fridge.—
Meghan McCarron,
The Atlantic,
18 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
The conspiratorial right aims to degrade the state’s ability to collect taxes, conduct diplomacy, prosecute violations of civil rights, and otherwise carry out its duties.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Feb. 2025
-
In sum, proper use of AI should be encouraged, as opposed to this case where the D grade appeared to degrade its use.—
Tom Rogers,
Newsweek,
20 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Since 1977, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has prohibited U.S. companies and individuals from bribing foreign officials to gain a business advantage.—
Henry Gass,
The Christian Science Monitor,
28 Feb. 2025
-
In addition, longtime Coral Gables police officer Edwin Pagan III, a deputized DEA agent, was charged in November with playing a supporting role in the conspiracy to bribe Costanzo with tens of thousands of dollars for access to confidential information about drug-trafficking suspects.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Measles is an infection that can make even healthy children very sick.—
Brenda Goodman and Neha Mukherjee,
CNN,
6 Mar. 2025
-
Less than 10 minutes later, at that same rally, gunfire rang out and a sick and deranged assassin unloaded eight bullets from his sniper’s perch into a crowd of many thousands of people.—
TIME Staff,
TIME,
5 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
What doesn’t decay this winter can be mulched up next spring.—
Jeff Lowenfels,
Anchorage Daily News,
22 Sep. 2022
-
In particular, many theorists have wondered how the great complexity of life can be reconciled with the laws of thermodynamics that suggest that all systems must inevitably decay to a state of greatest disorder.—
The Physics arXiv Blog,
Discover Magazine,
29 Apr. 2022
Verb
-
What starts as a series that aims to subvert the heist genre at every turn, amped with thrilling life-or-death stakes, family dynamics and explosive action, actually gives birth to an exploration of what drives us, sustains us, and ultimately destroys us.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
5 Mar. 2025
-
Second, Trump has been able to subvert our system of checks and balances because so many, including congressional Republicans, fear his retribution.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
As a side sleeper who constantly wakes up with a crooked neck and often back pain, this was a huge plus.—
Nashia Baker,
Architectural Digest,
27 Feb. 2025
-
In short, repealing the FCPA will be a boon to crooked foreign corporations and will create an uneven playing field—in their favor.—
Matt Robison,
Newsweek,
24 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Corrupt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/corrupt. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share