1
as in decomposing
to go through decomposition
a dead mouse corrupting in the walls produced a terrible smell
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in degrading
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in bribing
to influence someone with a bribe
he bragged about having corrupted half of the officials on the city council
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of corrupting
And along the way enrich himself and partner with some of the world's most dangerous and violent drug traffickers and corrupting his country.
—
ABC News, 4 Jan. 2026
First, someone, like the objecting citizen in Denton, warns that a dangerous force is corrupting the schools.
—Jonathan Zimmerman, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
Elites stirred up a now familiar moral panic about commerce corrupting letters and mocked Grub Street even as its writers built the first modern freelance economy and mass-print culture.
—Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 8 Nov. 2025
Tales From Beyond the Pale co-creator Glenn McQuaid unleashes a Jason Voorhees whose appearance is concealed not by a hockey mask but a squiggly blur of video noise, corrupting the handheld footage of him stalking college kids through the woods.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2025
The additional time exposed to harsh radiation is, not surprisingly, corrupting JunoCam's images.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
This comes as reports continue to roll in that another August update fail has been corrupting PC SSDs when writing large files.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
May End Up Carrying Weapons—Report Stop the billionaire takeover corrupting our government.
—Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Aug. 2025
He was charged with corrupting another with drugs, tampering with evidence, gross abuse of a corpse, trafficking in drugs, possession of drugs, failure to report crime or death and possession of drug paraphernalia.
—Jennifer Rodriguez, Kansas City Star, 10 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for corrupting
Verb
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For nearly two weeks before embarking on the cross-country road trip, the teenager lived with his parents’ decomposing bodies.—
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The earthy scent of decomposing leaves and soil contributes to the smell.—
Verb
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The information ecosystem is degrading more each moment.—
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Under Budanov, the GUR expanded its operational footprint, coordinating intelligence, sabotage and special operations aimed at degrading Russian military capabilities far beyond the front lines.—
Verb
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There's no shame in a little bit of bribing to get the job done!—
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Nur is also accused of bribing a juror in the case and later pleaded guilty to that charge.—
Verb
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These signs indicate that the iceberg could be just days or weeks from disintegrating completely.—
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Instead of the usual disintegrating granola situation, Floura bars are more like fruit bars.—
Verb
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And her co-stars—Jacob Elordi as a brooding Heathcliff, Alison Oliver as an angelic Isabella Linton, Hong Chau as a steely Nelly Dean, and Shazad Latif as a swaggering Edgar Linton—would also be subverting our expectations.—
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After collaborating with Sotheby’s on a 2024 installation of Impressionism, for which they were tasked with subverting assumptions of the movement, the duo are now conceiving the company’s new restaurant, Marcel, named after the architect.—
Verb
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The video featured a tired Madonna running into a mysterious man and woman in a hotel hallway, with the two seducing the singer into a night together, done as a tribute to the 1963 French film Bay of Angels, which starred Jeanne Moreau.—
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Jennifer then develops a taste for human flesh and begins seducing and killing teenage boys.—
Verb
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In essence, this would mean that alpha particles (helium nuclei) released by decaying uranium (or some other fissile material) would be focused through engine nozzles to generate thrust.—
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By the time of his death in 2013, Venezuela’s economy was already decaying, its institutions hollowed, and its future mortgaged.—
Verb
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Milk, butter and cheese prices on the wholesale market and at grocery stores have decreased slightly due to oversupply and weakening consumer demand.—
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This suggests consumers enter 2026 with continuing concerns over high prices and weakening labor market conditions.—
Cite this Entry
“Corrupting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/corrupting. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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