# corruption

/kɝˈəpʃən/ (US) · /kəɹˈʌpʃən/ (UK)

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

## Senses

### 1. dishonesty in power

noun · CEFR B2

dishonest or illegal behavior by people with power, such as government officials or business leaders.

For teachers: the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, typically involving bribery, embezzlement, or nepotism.

- The mayor was arrested following a long investigation into government corruption.
- Widespread institutional corruption had eroded public trust in the judicial system, making it difficult for new reforms to take hold.

### 2. damaged computer data

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

errors in computer data that happen when a file is saved or sent incorrectly.

For teachers: the unintended alteration of data during transmission or storage, rendering the information unreadable or incorrect.

- The file wouldn't open because of data corruption on the hard drive.
- The database administrator implemented a checksum system to detect and prevent silent data corruption during the nightly backup process.

### 3. moral decay

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal · Literary

the state of losing your good character or moral principles.

For teachers: the impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle; a state of being morally debased.

- The book describes the moral corruption of a young man who only cares about money.
- The philosopher argued that the absolute pursuit of pleasure inevitably leads to the corruption of the human spirit.

### 4. language change

noun · CEFR C2 · Academic · Technical

a word or phrase that has changed from its original form in a way that is considered 'incorrect'.

For teachers: a nonstandard form of a word or expression resulting from misunderstanding, transcription errors, or phonetic shifts.

- The modern name of the village is actually a corruption of an old French word.
- Linguists noted that the term was a medieval corruption of the original Latin, likely due to a scribe's error in the fourteenth century.

Usage: Often used when discussing the etymology of place names or ancient texts.

## Examples

- The file is unreadable because of data corruption.
- A sudden power outage during the system update led to widespread corruption of the operating system files.
- Advanced file systems use checksums to detect and repair silent data corruption, ensuring that the information retrieved from the disk remains identical to what was originally written.

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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.