corruption
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
dishonest or illegal behavior by people with power, such as government officials or business leaders.
the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, typically involving bribery, embezzlement, or nepotism.
Simple“The mayor was arrested following a long investigation into government corruption.”
In context“Widespread institutional corruption had eroded public trust in the judicial system, making it difficult for new reforms to take hold.”
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
errors in computer data that happen when a file is saved or sent incorrectly.
the unintended alteration of data during transmission or storage, rendering the information unreadable or incorrect.
Simple“The file wouldn't open because of data corruption on the hard drive.”
In context“The database administrator implemented a checksum system to detect and prevent silent data corruption during the nightly backup process.”
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
the state of losing your good character or moral principles.
the impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle; a state of being morally debased.
Simple“The book describes the moral corruption of a young man who only cares about money.”
In context“The philosopher argued that the absolute pursuit of pleasure inevitably leads to the corruption of the human spirit.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
a word or phrase that has changed from its original form in a way that is considered 'incorrect'.
a nonstandard form of a word or expression resulting from misunderstanding, transcription errors, or phonetic shifts.
Simple“The modern name of the village is actually a corruption of an old French word.”
In context“Linguists noted that the term was a medieval corruption of the original Latin, likely due to a scribe's error in the fourteenth century.”
UsageOften used when discussing the etymology of place names or ancient texts.
Synonyms
“It became the flagship for hard-hitting independent journalism in Russia, shining a light on human rights abuses and high-level corruption.”
“While she said there was "no evidence of cronyism or corruption" by ministers or officials when awarding contracts, the system was "inherently biased towards those with connections to the UK government".”
Borrowed from French corruption, from Latin corruptiō, equivalent to corrupt + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.