# corrupted

/kɝˈəptɪd/ (US) · /kəɹˈʌptɪd/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/corrupted
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. dishonest or immoral

adjective · CEFR B2

behaving in a dishonest or immoral way, especially by taking money to do something wrong.

For teachers: marked by immorality, depravity, or a lack of integrity; frequently used to describe officials who abuse their power for personal gain.

- The corrupted officials were eventually caught taking bribes from the construction company.
- The investigation revealed a corrupted system where political influence was routinely sold to the highest bidder.

Usage: Often used to describe people in positions of power or entire institutions.

### 2. damaged computer data

adjective · CEFR B2 · Technical

describes a computer file that has errors and cannot be opened or used correctly.

For teachers: referring to data or software that has become unreliable or unusable due to errors in transmission or storage.

- I couldn't finish my report because the file became corrupted after the power went out.
- The database administrator spent hours attempting to recover the corrupted records after the server crash.

Usage: Commonly used with nouns like 'file', 'data', 'database', or 'disk'.

## Examples

- The virus corrupted my saved files.
- A sudden power cut corrupted the database, so we had to restore it from a backup.
- The ancient manuscript was corrupted by centuries of water damage, rendering many of its original passages illegible to modern scholars.

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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.