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
But now, federal prosecutors say Hennen is the fixer behind the biggest point-shaving scandal in history, accused of bribing 39 college players, corrupting 17 programs and fixing — or trying fix — 29 games to enrich himself and other gamblers.
—
Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 26 Jan. 2026
Blakeney then recruited other players on the team, corrupting the integrity of games, according to the indictment.
—Paulina Dedaj , Ryan Morik , Andrew Fone, FOXNews.com, 15 Jan. 2026
Political opponents appear as corrupting forces, stripped of individual texture.
—Philip Martin, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026
Achim Kempf, the Chair for Physics of Information and AI in the Department of Applied Mathematics, and Koji Yamaguchi, then a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Waterloo, co-discovered a method to copy quantum information without corrupting it.
—Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 7 Jan. 2026
And Maduro, both, Juan Orlando Hernandez, were accused of prolific drug trafficking, enriching themselves, corrupting their country, and allowing violence and danger to flourish.
—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
Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 26 Jan. 2026
Blakeney then recruited other players on the team, corrupting the integrity of games, according to the indictment.
—Paulina Dedaj , Ryan Morik , Andrew Fone, FOXNews.com, 15 Jan. 2026
Political opponents appear as corrupting forces, stripped of individual texture.
—Philip Martin, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026
Achim Kempf, the Chair for Physics of Information and AI in the Department of Applied Mathematics, and Koji Yamaguchi, then a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Waterloo, co-discovered a method to copy quantum information without corrupting it.
—Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 7 Jan. 2026
And Maduro, both, Juan Orlando Hernandez, were accused of prolific drug trafficking, enriching themselves, corrupting their country, and allowing violence and danger to flourish.
—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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for corrupting
Verb
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In desert regions, natural mummification is common due to the dry conditions where fungi and bacteria can’t thrive on a decomposing corpse.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
15 Jan. 2026
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In town, the painter also notes the reek of decomposing bodies, of garbage, of blood streaming out of the butcher shop.—
Amir Ahmadi Arian,
The Dial,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and the United Nations have all concluded that isolating children constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and in extreme cases, torture.—
Gladys Carrión,
New York Daily News,
21 Jan. 2026
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During this storm, some space weather forecasters reported temporary data dropouts, likely caused by intense proton fluxes degrading spacecraft measurements.—
Daisy Dobrijevic,
Space.com,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But now, federal prosecutors say Hennen is the fixer behind the biggest point-shaving scandal in history, accused of bribing 39 college players, corrupting 17 programs and fixing — or trying fix — 29 games to enrich himself and other gamblers.—
Andy Sheehan,
CBS News,
26 Jan. 2026
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The indictment describes the fixers as the leaders of the scheme, which allegedly began in 2022 with a group bribing CBA players to influence games for wagering purposes.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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When Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s army was disintegrating in the face of a rapid advance by Syrian opposition forces under the command of Ahmad al-Sharaa, all the Russians were willing to do was launch a few symbolic airstrikes and help organize Assad’s getaway to a life in exile.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Jan. 2026
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By removing microscopic defects and smoothing the surface, this coating ensures efficient energy flow while preventing the cell from disintegrating under intense heat.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Jan. 2026
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.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
10 Jan. 2026
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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.—
Sam Cochran,
Architectural Digest,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In the complaint, which was first filed in September in a North Carolina state court, plaintiff Heather Ammel accused Sinema of seducing her ex-husband Matthew Ammel, who began working for Sinema in April 2022 as part of her security detail.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
16 Jan. 2026
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In Arthur Penn’s 1975 neo-noir Night Moves, Griffith is Delly Grastner, a 16-year-old runaway with a little girl’s voice and a grown woman’s body—on full display in an underwater nude scene—intent on seducing Gene Hackman, 43 and paunchy.—
Lili Anolik,
Vanity Fair,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The new coach of the Miami Dolphins played his college football at Siena, with home games before small crowds at what was a decaying minor-league baseball field in a suburb of Albany, New York.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2026
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China’s out-of-control module had been abandoned in a decaying orbit ever since it was cut loose from the Shenzhou-15 capsule returning three Chinese astronauts from their country’s space station in 2023.—
Marcia Dunn,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
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.—
Cheryl V. Jackson,
IndyStar,
9 Jan. 2026
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This suggests consumers enter 2026 with continuing concerns over high prices and weakening labor market conditions.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Corrupting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/corrupting. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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