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corruption

corruption

5 5.6
The process of plant or animal matter breaking down and rotting
  • noun
  • /kəˈrʌpʃən/
: putrefacción
  • Beneath the moon there was decay, change, corruption, all kinds of of uncontrollable grubbiness.
  • corruption and decay
  • corruption and death
  • corruption grew

Beneath the moon there was decay, change, corruption, all kinds of of uncontrollable grubbiness.

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Examples

  • We therefore commit her body to the deep to be turned into corruption.

  • Watch for the telltale signs of corruption.

  • We therefore commit this body to the Earth, to be turned once more into corruption.

  • Tonight, it seemed to hint at corruption and decay.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Once the decay gets started, it can only lead to rot, filth, corruption.

  • City Hall is the decaying symbol of mismanagement and corruption.

  • Economic decay, corruption, and foreign influence all served to weaken the tenuous hold of the Nationalist government.

    Academic text (1995)
  • The health system has been devastated by decades of underinvestment, corruption, and neglect; long-vanquished diseases, such as malaria and measles, have returned.

    Academic text (2018)
  • It was scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries should discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and corruption.

  • We therefore commit her body to the deep to be turned into corruption.

Synonyms

decay
vscorruption
43 4.5

The gradual loss of strength or good condition over time

is specifically about physical decomposition rather than any slow worsening
deterioration
vscorruption
42 5.9

A slow change when something like a building or a person's health becomes worse

is limited to physical breakdown rather than broad quality decline
degradation
vscorruption
41 6.8

The process of making land, water, or buildings worse over time

is specifically about physical breaking down, not social or moral lowering
degeneration
vscorruption
14 7.5

A process of becoming worse in condition, quality, or morals

is restricted to physical breakdown rather than moral or mental decline
rottenness
vscorruption
3 4.6

A state when food or wood goes bad

is the general physical process or state that causes that material breakdown
putrescence
vscorruption
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A state of rotting that gives a bad smell

is the general physical process or state not focused on smell
putridness
vscorruption
1 8.2

A strong bad smell from rotting things

is the broader physical breaking down process without stressing odor

Antonyms

125 3.8

Keeping things safe and in good condition, for example food or buildings

117 3.4

The act of returning something to its original state

Compounds

Against bribery and dishonest acts in government or companies

Actions and rules to prevent bribery in government or companies

How Decayed

putrefaction
  • Specialized
3 8.9
to rot
145 1.4
corruption
5 5.6
deterioration
42 5.9
freshness
11 1.0

Surface Forms

corruption singular
corruptions plural

Morphology

corruption = corrupt (semi-transparent) = corrupt + ion

Morphologically regular (corrupt + -ion) but the sense 'physical decay' is an older/less common extension and may not be derivable for learners who know only the moral/administrative senses.

Etymology

Corruption comes from the Latin word corrumpere meaning 'to spoil' or 'to break'. It first described things that go rotten, so corruption still means physical decay or something that has been spoiled.