# corrupt

/kɝˈəpt/ (US) · /kəɹˈʌpt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/corrupt
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. dishonest/bribery

adjective · CEFR B2

willing to act dishonestly, especially by taking money to do something wrong.

For teachers: exhibiting a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain; typically used of officials or institutions.

- The corrupt official was arrested for taking money from the construction company.
- The investigation revealed a corrupt network of police officers who had been protecting local gangs for decades.

### 2. damaged data

adjective · CEFR B2 · Technical

containing errors or being broken so that it cannot be used by a computer.

For teachers: containing errors or having been altered in a way that renders data or files unreadable or invalid.

- I couldn't open the document because the file was corrupt.
- The system crash resulted in several corrupt database entries that required manual restoration from the previous night's backup.

### 3. to ruin someone's morals

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal

to encourage someone to start behaving in a bad or dishonest way.

For teachers: to cause someone to become morally depraved or to lead them away from accepted standards of behavior.

- Some people worried that the violent films would corrupt the minds of young children.
- The prosecutor argued that the older man had used his influence to corrupt the youth and involve him in the criminal enterprise.

### 4. to damage a file

verb · CEFR B2 · Technical

to cause a computer file or piece of information to have errors.

For teachers: to introduce errors into a computer file or data stream, often resulting in a loss of functionality.

- A sudden power cut can corrupt the data on your hard drive.
- The virus was designed to corrupt the boot sector of the drive, making the entire operating system impossible to load.

### 5. to rot

verb · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Technical

to decay or become rotten.

For teachers: to become putrid, tainted, or impure through the process of decomposition.

- The ancient scrolls had begun to corrupt after years of exposure to the damp air.
- In the absence of proper preservation, the organic matter will eventually corrupt and return to the soil.

Usage: In modern English, 'rot' or 'decay' is almost always preferred for physical matter.

## Examples

- The virus will corrupt your files if you open that email.
- The investigation revealed that the lobbyist tried to corrupt several officials by offering them expensive gifts.
- While the hardware remained intact, a sudden power surge managed to corrupt the database, forcing the engineering team to restore the system from an earlier backup.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.