as in to corrupt
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
the belief that pornography depraves society as a whole
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Recent Examples of deprave
The company goes on to say the infringing product depraves Levi’s its rights to use and control its trademark and maintain its reputation with consumers, licensees and collaborators and allows others to believe the distinctive features of the Tab trademark may be misappropriated for their use.
—
Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 3 Jan. 2025
They are depraved on account of being deprived.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 14 Dec. 2024
All writings, unpalatable for one section of the society, cannot be labeled as obscene, vulgar, depraving, prurient and immoral. . . .
—Amitava Kumar, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2019
This is especially true when the news operation is clearly on the side of righteousness against a policy as depraved this.
—David Zurawik, baltimoresun.com, 15 June 2018
This series follows the trails of their obsession, and takes a deep dive into the killers’ depraved psyches to reveal their darkest secrets as investigators close in to end the killer’s reign of terror.
—Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2018
McDonagh complicates Mildred's story by showing how the lust for justice can grow depraved the longer it is denied — a favorite subject of dramatists going back to Aeschylus.
—Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 1 Mar. 2018
As depraved a forum as Twitter can be at times, one of its redeeming characteristics is its users' penchant for outing liars in real time.
—Matthew Martinez, star-telegram, 18 Feb. 2018
Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 3 Jan. 2025
They are depraved on account of being deprived.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 14 Dec. 2024
All writings, unpalatable for one section of the society, cannot be labeled as obscene, vulgar, depraving, prurient and immoral. . . .
—Amitava Kumar, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2019
This is especially true when the news operation is clearly on the side of righteousness against a policy as depraved this.
—David Zurawik, baltimoresun.com, 15 June 2018
This series follows the trails of their obsession, and takes a deep dive into the killers’ depraved psyches to reveal their darkest secrets as investigators close in to end the killer’s reign of terror.
—Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2018
McDonagh complicates Mildred's story by showing how the lust for justice can grow depraved the longer it is denied — a favorite subject of dramatists going back to Aeschylus.
—Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 1 Mar. 2018
As depraved a forum as Twitter can be at times, one of its redeeming characteristics is its users' penchant for outing liars in real time.
—Matthew Martinez, star-telegram, 18 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deprave
Verb
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The additional time exposed to harsh radiation is, not surprisingly, corrupting JunoCam's images.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
-
The baffling Windows 11 update bug that corrupted SSDs now appears to be linked to storage drives running pre-release firmware.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In some cases, performance degraded despite having access to better tools.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
-
However, as seals in the engines, designed to stop leaks, wear and degrade, oil seeps in and vaporizes in the heat, releasing toxic compounds onboard.—
Colson Thayer,
PEOPLE,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The Federal Reserve is closely watching spending trends as policymakers debate a path for interest rate cuts — with the first trim expected Wednesday — but signs of a weakening labor market loom over the economy.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
19 Sep. 2025
-
While the greenback has depreciated against other major currencies this year, with the dollar index tumbling over 10%, those currencies have also weakened in value relative to gold, Dalio said, noting that gold has become the second largest reserve currency globally.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The dark comedy follows a wealthy socialite, Stacy (Cherry), and a struggling writer, Becky (Chalotra), who are brought together at a lavish, debauched New York party.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Aug. 2025
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The atmosphere, at once debauched and sombre, felt like a wake, one attendee said.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The real fiends were the ones who perverted science, who attacked this misunderstood giant out of fear, who branded him as something unholy and unworthy to exist, who gave him life but didn’t give him love.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
9 Sep. 2025
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Aware of this injustice, companies are hiring lawyers and influence peddlers to bolster their MAGA credentials and pervert traditional law enforcement.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Those tactics are also used to generate funds meant to help the regime subvert international sanctions and develop its nuclear weapons programs, according to the US government.—
Nino Paoli,
Fortune,
14 Sep. 2025
-
Consistently subverting audience expectations, Don’t Breathe features an incredibly twisted game of cat-and-mouse.—
Yasmeen Hamadeh,
PEOPLE,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Continually moving the goalposts or using testing to humiliate or control can cause relational harm.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
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And Sacks, a PayPal Mafia member and veteran Silicon Valley investor, is just the sort of titan of industry this town routinely devours and humiliates — from Rex Tillerson to, well, Elon Musk.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Thousands of multivitamin bottles sold on Amazon and other websites have been recalled over a risk of serious injury or death by poisoning.—
Joel Thayer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Sep. 2025
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During World War II, Husseini became a Nazi collaborator, broadcasting propaganda into the Arab world, touring death camps with his friend Heinrich Himmler, recruiting SS divisions, and hatching a plot to poison Tel Aviv’s water supply.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deprave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deprave. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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