depraved

1 of 2

adjective

de·​praved di-ˈprāvd 

: marked by corruption or evil

a depraved attack

especially : having or showing an evil and immoral character

a depraved criminal

the work of depraved minds

depravedly

di-ˈprā-vəd-lē 

-ˈprāvd-lē

adverb

depravedness

di-ˈprā-vəd-nəs 

-ˈprāvd-nəs

noun

depraved

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of deprave

Synonyms of depraved

Adjective

• corrupt
• degraded
• sick

Examples of depraved in a Sentence

Adjective

the work of depraved minds

He acted with depraved indifference to human suffering.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

In the mid-1970s, Slash’s mother, the costume designer Ola Hudson, worked on the American production of The Rocky Horror Show, whose Frank-N-Furter is the unmistakable touchstone of Bourzgui’s David, down to the depraved purr. — Sarah Grant, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2026

But Cheekface will still be here, filtering our depraved mutterings into sardonic bangers. — Zach Schonfeld, Pitchfork, 3 Aug. 2026

Jacobs collapses the distance between the nation’s lofty ideals and its depraved slave regime. — Brian Delay, Mercury News, 4 July 2026

But that doesn’t mean that artificially sugared sodas, retail consumption, or social media are depraved, worthless activities akin to the cardinal sin of sloth or the tragic spiral of heroin addiction. — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 16 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

see deprave

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for depraved

• autoclaved
• misbehaved
• behaved
• engraved
• enslaved
• unpaved
• unsaved
• braved
• caved
• craved
• paved
• raved

Legal Definition

depraved

adjective

de·​praved di-ˈprāvd 

: marked by moral corruption or perversion as shown by a capacity for extreme and wanton physical cruelty

the depraved state of mind of the murderer

the depraved nature of the crime