CORRUPTED Synonyms: 176 Similar and Opposite Words

corrupted 1 of 2

adjective

as in rotten

having undergone organic breakdown corrupted corpses that sickened the animal control officers sent to investigate

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

corrupted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of corrupt

as in decomposed

to go through decomposition a dead mouse corrupting in the walls produced a terrible smell

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in degraded

to lower in character, dignity, or quality some observers believe that grossly violent movies corrupt the people who watch them as well as the people who make them

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in bribed

to influence someone with a bribe he bragged about having corrupted half of the officials on the city council

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of corrupted

Adjective

For the last decade, our party has been infected by a corrupted moral center. — Karen Tumulty, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2026 But the point was just that Nick’s character is emulating Sheridan’s poisonous corrupted values, and the internet is a vehicle for that relationship. — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2026 Sponsors are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete or technically corrupted entries. — Sponsored Content, Baltimore Sun, 25 Aug. 2026 Incomplete, corrupted, untimely, or unintelligible Submissions or Submission Forms will be disqualified. — August 16, NPR, 16 Aug. 2026 The demon Rasho-gan has taken over the shrine and corrupted worshippers’ prayers. — Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026 The anime merely depicts a border spat between a few small nations, whereas the manga is more global in reach and also deals with much of the underlying mysteries of the corrupted world the characters now live in. — Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026 Clark has a lot in common with Sam Neill’s corrupted scientist in Event Horizon. — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 29 May 2026 Now imagine that kind of corrupted, perverted system of justice writ large. — Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2026

Verb

The original 1971 experiment was conducted by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo, who arbitrarily split volunteers into two groups—inmates and guards—and observed how power corrupted them. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026 Rousseau argued that societies were happiest before agriculture and metal production corrupted them. — Saar Shahar, The Conversation, 12 Oct. 2026 The audience is interacting with an object that had been scanned, that had been corrupted in some way. — Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 29 Sep. 2026 Obama and Biden were corrupted by donors who wanted cheap labor. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 23 Sep. 2026 But, in Hagwon, Lee does not seem interested in the ways in which her diplomatic, kind, generous characters might be corrupted. — Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026 This may then seem like yet another story about how Trump has wrecked norms and corrupted the rule of law. — James Surowiecki, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026 The difference with those films is that all those guys came in corrupted by something or had something mentally going on. — Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026 As a result, the notion of utopia became increasingly associated with the sci-fi genre, while the idea of creating a perfect social order here on earth was corrupted by totalitarian regimes. — Carline Tromp, The Dial, 18 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for corrupted

Adjective

Zhang and his colleagues theorize that this reaction might help plants avoid pathogens, similar to the way unpleasant smells help animals steer clear of rotten food.

— Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 17 Oct. 2026
Sometimes your potatoes will be not be super clean with little sprouts and little rotten bits that need to be cut off.

— Andy Baraghani, Bon Appetit Magazine, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of rotten

Verb

The coins were originally buried together in a container made of organic material that has since decomposed, archaeologists believe.

— Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Many of the children's bodies were severely decomposed, with only 26 able to be identified, and investigations into the other deaths are ongoing.

— Jefferson Kahinju Reuters, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of decomposed

Verb

With so few ancient samples of dodo DNA surviving—and that which does exist having degraded over the centuries—the analytic and number-crunching power of AI is just what’s needed to fill in the genetic blanks.

— Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 14 Oct. 2026
Russia’s constant attacks on factories, energy supply systems and the railways means that steel supply to the Ukrainian armed forces is also being degraded.

— Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of degraded

Verb

By automating tasks that once required human discretion, rulers can replace unreliable intermediaries with faithful algorithms that cannot be bribed or manipulated.

— Seva Gunitsky, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026
The country’s largest wine and spirits distributor has entered into an agreement with federal prosecutors to resolve allegations that its executives and employees bribed alcohol retailers for favorable placement of certain products.

— Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of bribed

Adjective

Caleb Bowlin / Getty Images A good night in New York totally spoiled?

— CBS News, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
At some point in the last few days, Henry (Hudson Williams), the spoiled 22-year-old scion of a fish processing magnate, has disappeared from his giant mansion perched at the edge of a Canadian island.

— Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of spoiled

Verb

The resulting collisions formed excited compound nuclei that decayed through multiple gamma-ray steps.

— Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 1 Aug. 2026
In order to have aqueous alteration there needs to be some internal heating [usually via radioactive elements] and if something forms later than everything else then there will be less heat [since many of the radioactive elements will have already decayed].

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 19 June 2026

Definition of decayed

Verb

Black voter turnout surges Another factor working in Democrats' favor this election cycle is a surge in Black turnout following a Supreme Court decision that weakened part of the Voting Rights Act.

— Stephen Fowler, NPR, 25 Oct. 2026
Conditions were expected to improve Saturday afternoon as winds weakened, with fair and dry weather forecast for the remainder of the weekend.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of weakened

Verb

Will Stewart be seduced into the path of corruption by using Sinestro’s emotionally tainted battery, or steel himself against ill influences and continue to blaze his own trail as Earth's sole protector for the time being?

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Armani’s languid silhouette soon seduced red- and blue-blooded men the world over.

— Robb Report, Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of seduced

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Style

“Corrupted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/corrupted. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of corrupted

adjective

verb

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