corrupt
gb/kɚˈʌpt/ us/kɚˈʌpt/
B1
English
~ 3200
Senses
0 senses
adjective
B1
property
1
Dishonest for personal benefit
Doing bad or illegal things to get money or power.
Usage pattern:
[someone] is corrupt
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse 'corrupt' with 'bankrupt'. 'Corrupt' is about dishonesty, not money problems.
Synonyms
dishonest (A general term for not telling the truth or cheating, without necessarily involving power or authority.)
Antonyms
honest (Describes someone who tells the truth and does not cheat or take bribes.)
Collocations
corrupt official
|corrupt government
|corrupt practices
|deeply corrupt
|morally corrupt
Themes
politics
|law
|business
Examples
- The corrupt mayor accepted bribes from construction companies.
- Many citizens believe the system is corrupt and unfair.
- She refused to work with corrupt officials.
Learner examples
- The police officer was corrupt.
- The company fired a corrupt manager.
- People do not trust corrupt leaders.
Verb
B2
action
2
Make someone dishonest for benefit
To make a person do bad or illegal things by giving them money or power.
Usage pattern:
to corrupt [someone/something]
Common mistake:
Learners may confuse 'corrupt' with 'interrupt'. They are unrelated in meaning.
Synonyms
bribe (Implies offering money or gifts to influence someone, often as part of corruption.)
Antonyms
reform (To improve someone's moral behavior instead of making it worse.)
Collocations
corrupt the youth
|corrupt a judge
|corrupt officials
Themes
politics
|law
|business
Examples
- The criminal tried to corrupt the police officer with expensive gifts.
- Power can easily corrupt a person who is not careful.
- He was accused of attempting to corrupt jury members.
Learner examples
- Money can corrupt people.
- The man tried to corrupt the guard.
- Power can corrupt leaders.
adjective
B2
property
3
Damaged and unusable
Broken or changed so it does not work correctly, often used about computer files or data.
Usage pattern:
[something] is corrupt
Common mistake:
Learners may think 'corrupt' here means 'dishonest', but in technology it means broken or unusable.
Synonyms
damaged (General term for physical or functional harm, not limited to data.)
Antonyms
intact (Describes something that is complete and undamaged.)
Collocations
corrupt file
|corrupt data
|corrupt download
Themes
technology
Examples
- The document could not be opened because the file was corrupt.
- Corrupt data caused the program to crash.
- He had to reinstall the software after it became corrupt.
Learner examples
- The file is corrupt.
- I cannot open the corrupt photo.
- The program stopped because the data is corrupt.
Verb
B2
action
4
Damage data or files
To break computer files or data so they do not work right.
Usage pattern:
to corrupt [data/file]
Synonyms
damage (General term for causing harm; in computing, 'corrupt' is more specific to errors in data.)
Antonyms
repair (To fix something so it works again.)
Collocations
corrupt a file
|corrupt system files
|corrupt memory
Themes
technology
Examples
- A virus can easily corrupt important files on your computer.
- The update corrupted several system files.
- Improper shutdowns may corrupt the database.
Learner examples
- A virus can corrupt your files.
- The power cut corrupted the game file.
- Do not turn off the computer; it may corrupt the data.
Grammar
Dictionary form
corrupt
IPA
GB/kɚˈʌpt/
US/kɚˈʌpt/
Syllables & stress
cor - rupt (2 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (cor)
Word forms
Adjective
- Base: corrupt
Verb
- Base: corrupt
- 3rd Person Singular: corrupts
- Present Participle: corrupting
- Past: corrupted
Word family
Forms
corrupts
verb
corrupting
verb
corrupted
verb
Core family
corruption
noun B2
corruptly
adverb
Related words
corruptible
adjective
corruptor
noun
Negative and opposite forms
incorruptible
adjective
Expressions
corrupt to the core
1/kɚˈʌpt tə ðə kˈɔɹ/
idiom
informal
Completely dishonest or immoral
Totally bad and dishonest in every way.
Examples
- The organization was corrupt to the core.
- Some believed the regime was corrupt to the core and could not be saved.
morally corrupt
1/mˈɔɹəli kɚˈʌpt/
fixed phrase
Having bad moral values
Having very bad ideas about what is right and wrong; doing bad things without feeling guilty.
Examples
- He was seen as morally corrupt after the scandal.
- Many felt the film's hero was morally corrupt despite his charm.
power corrupts
1/pˈaʊɚ kɚˈʌpts/
fixed phrase
Power makes people dishonest
If a person has too much power, they may start doing bad things.
Examples
- They say power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
- History shows that power corrupts even well-meaning leaders.