corruption
cor·rup·tion/kəˈɹʌpʃən/noun
corruption is spelled C-O-R-R-U-P-T-I-O-N: 10 letters and 3 syllables (cor·rup·tion). It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, corruption means “The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of corruption is corruptions.
How many letters and syllables are in corruption?
| Letters | 10: C-O-R-R-U-P-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: cor·rup·tion |
| In writing | 22 times per million words; the 3,939th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is corruption?
Corruption appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce corruption?
- /kəˈɹʌpʃən/
Corruption has 3 syllables, split cor·rup·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-corruption.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of corruption
- corruptions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does corruption mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity.
- 2
The act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid; decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction; putrefaction; deterioration.
- 3
The product of corruption; putrid matter.
- 4
The decomposition of biological matter.
- 5
Unethical administrative or executive practices (in government or business), including bribery (offering or receiving bribes), conflicts of interest, nepotism, embezzlement, and so on.
- 6
The destruction of data by manipulation of parts of it, either by deliberate or accidental human action or by imperfections in storage or transmission media.
- 7
The act of changing, or of being changed, for the worse; departure from what is pure, simple, or correct.
a corruption of style
- 8
A nonstandard form of a word, expression, or text, especially when resulting from misunderstanding, transcription error, or mishearing. (See a usage note about this sense.)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Corruption in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | corruption, pourriture , concussion |
| German | Verderbnis, Verdorbenheit, Verkommenheit, Verworfenheit , Verderbung, Verderben |
| Portuguese | corrupção , corruptela |
| Spanish | corrupción , corruptela , daño de datos |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does corruption come from?
Borrowed from French corruption, from Latin corruptiō, equivalent to corrupt + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).