Synonyms of corrupting

corrupting

verb

present participle of corrupt

1

as in decomposing

to go through decomposition

a dead mouse corrupting in the walls produced a terrible smell

Synonyms & Similar Words

• decomposing
• disintegrating
• decaying
• rotting
• molding
• spoiling
• perishing
• festering
• putrefying
• deteriorating
• fouling
• moldering
• falling apart
• contaminating
• crumbling
• polluting
• descending
• turning
• tainting
• souring
• defiling
• breaking down
• going to seed
• rusting
• fermenting
• degenerating
• mortifying
• curdling
• declining
• turning off
• sinking
• addling
• withering
• dilapidating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• growing
• developing
• aging
• maturing
• restoring
• ripening
• renewing
• purifying
• cleansing
• integrating
• improving
• assembling
• refreshing
• composing
• ameliorating
• bettering
• meliorating

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

• degrading
• subverting
• weakening
• debauching
• perverting
• destroying
• deteriorating
• poisoning
• damaging
• diluting
• debasing
• depraving
• humiliating
• polluting
• ruining
• prostituting
• disgracing
• contaminating
• bastardizing
• lessening
• vitiating
• tainting
• cheapening
• demeaning
• profaning
• warping
• marring
• demoralizing
• harming
• cankering
• abasing
• impairing
• shaming
• wrecking
• hurting
• dirtying
• defiling
• thinning
• spoiling
• humbling
• dishonoring
• tarnishing
• watering down
• befouling
• staining
• descending
• defacing
• downgrading
• begriming
• depreciating
• taking down
• flawing
• blemishing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• elevating
• improving
• uplifting
• honoring
• exalting
• enhancing
• enriching
• ennobling
• amending
• restoring
• perfecting
• ameliorating
• bettering
• cleaning
• respecting
• purifying
• refining
• cleansing
• dignifying
• clarifying
• meliorating

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

• bribing
• seducing
• luring
• buying
• poisoning
• enticing
• having
• persuading
• provoking
• tempting
• squaring
• getting at
• paying off
• subverting
• depraving
• debauching
• tainting
• debasing
• defiling
• perverting
• degrading
• dishonoring
• inducing
• prostituting
• oiling the hand of
• motivating
• profaning
• warping
• spurring
• greasing the hand of
• demeaning
• tampering (with)
• stimulating
• alluring
• baiting
• trapping
• abasing
• beguiling
• fixing
• goading
• leading on
• flattering
• snaring

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of corrupting

Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country. — CBS News, 31 May 2026

An early discussion about social contracts comes down to us in Plato’s dialogue Crito in which Socrates, condemned to death for allegedly corrupting the youth, refused an offer to escape from prison. — George G. Szpiro, Big Think, 9 Apr. 2026

Meanwhile, the Pima County Sheriff Office investigating Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is facing troubles of its own, as a former sheriff has accused current leadership of ‘corrupting’ the crime scene, and a deputy has been arrested and fired on a kidnapping charge. — Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026

For Hildegard of Bingen, the German mystic, scientist, composer, and philosopher, women’s maternal bodies were not corrupting and degrading, but strong, nurturing, and creative. — Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026

Richard Pazdur, a longtime cancer drug regulator, retired from the CDER director post in December due to concerns that political officials were corrupting the agency’s scientific process. — Lizzy Lawrence, STAT, 6 Mar. 2026

In this way at least, the mayor follows in the path of Socrates by corrupting the young. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 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

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