corrupt
Definitions
Acting dishonestly in return for money or power; willing to accept bribes.
腐败的，贪污的；受贿的。
Of data or a file: damaged so that it can no longer be read or used properly.
（数据、文件）损坏的，无法正常读取的。
To make someone behave dishonestly or immorally.
使腐化，使堕落。
To damage data or a file so it no longer works correctly.
损坏（数据、文件）。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedcor- (a form of com-, here "thoroughly") + rupt (broken) = "thoroughly broken / spoiled." The earliest sense was physical — food or water gone bad. The rot then moved to the moral world: a corrupt official is someone whose integrity has broken down. In computing, the word swung back near its literal root: a corrupt file is data that has been broken.
Root rupt still carries 11 more wordsWhy It Means This
Corrupt began as a word about rot. Latin corruptus described meat or water that had broken down and spoiled. English first borrowed that physical sense, then extended it metaphorically: just as flesh rots, a person's honesty can rot. By the time of the modern "bribe-taking official," the physical image had faded — but it survives intact in computing, where a corrupt file is once again literally something that has been broken.
Common Collocations
- 1.corrupt official腐败官员
- 2.corrupt practices贪腐行为
- 3.deeply corrupt极度腐败
- 4.corrupt a file损坏文件
Example Sentences
- 1.
The corrupt official accepted bribes for years before he was caught.
- 2.
Power can corrupt even the most well-meaning leaders.
- 3.
The download failed and left me with a corrupt file.
- 4.
A virus had corrupted half the data on the hard drive.
Easily Confused
corrupt vs. corrosive: both involve damage over time, but corrupt is about moral or data decay (a corrupt judge, a corrupt file), while corrosive is physical/chemical eating-away (corrosive acid) or, figuratively, a destructive influence (a corrosive rumor). You corrupt integrity; acid corrodes metal.