venality

noun

Definition of venalitynext
as in shamelessness

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of venality There will be controversy, grift and venality, supporters will get lost and lose themselves in a fog of legalese, accounting and abbreviations — VAR, SCR, LOL, FFS — there will be ugliness and misgivings and a lot of meh. — George Caulkin, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026 The same amount of venality and virtue exists today as did back then, and so human nature just doesn’t change. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 2 July 2026 The once-vaunted values of public life are now reduced to the lower standards of private life—venality, vulgarity, rudeness, incontinence, and ignorance. — Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026 Advertisement This is not the first time that Milei, who rose to power in part with attacks on the venality of Argentina’s elite, has been tarred with corruption accusations. — Ian Bremmer, Time, 10 Oct. 2025 Humor savors an infirmity — a foible, a failing, a venality, a flaw. — Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025 Somehow, the upper hand never lingers long with Sally and Barnaby, drolly played by Gunning and Corden as a conniving Tweedledee and Tweedledum, loyal to no one and convinced their venality is justified by their father’s history of terrible parenting. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025 The New Yorker’s Talk writer was similarly blinkered and callous, treating Grey like a consenting partner and Chaplin as a dual victim, of his mother-in-law’s venality and of Middle America’s moral prejudices. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for venality
  1. shamelessness
  2. profligacy
  3. debasement
  4. baseness
  5. corruption
  6. decadence
  7. degradation
  8. degeneracy
Noun
  • The lucrative example paved the way for more than two decades of musical theater shamelessness.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2026
  • The world has gotten a glimpse of the fawning, skeezy shamelessness of his famous hangers-on, but not enough to criminally implicate them.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2026
Definition of shamelessness
Noun
  • His first-half profligacy, at odds with his attacking threat, exemplified that notion.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Such profligacy slows real income growth, deters hiring, discourages innovation and drives up interest rates.
    — Editorial, Boston Herald, 30 Mar. 2026
Definition of profligacy
Noun
  • The debasement trade is experiencing a revival, and that could catapult bitcoin to a new all-time high, according to Bernstein.
    — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
  • As a tail-risk hedge — specifically against financial system stress, currency debasement, and geopolitical crisis — gold's track record is stronger and more consistent.
    — Jason Kirsch, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
Definition of debasement
Noun
  • The horror has come now like a storm— what if this night prefigured the night after death— what if all thereafter was an eternal quivering on the edge of an abyss, with everything base and vicious in oneself urging one forward and the baseness and viciousness of the world just ahead.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
Definition of baseness
Noun
  • Democrats avoid division The Democrats’ corruption talk of 2026 checks all of these boxes.
    — Robert Boatright, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The limited testimony that led to the grand jury’s decision not to bring criminal charges reveals a larger culture of secrecy and corruption in Tallahassee, said José Javier Rodríguez, the Democrat running to unseat Uthmeier in November.
    — Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of corruption
Noun
  • Though the composition’s chocolatey decadence comes through, centifolia rose is still the star of the scent.
    — Jenny Berg, Vogue, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Opened this June by Jay Desai, Ray Niak and Rohit Singh, the shop aims to match the decadence of Häagen-Daz with a high-nutrition treat that diabetics can enjoy.
    — Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of decadence
Noun
  • The thickness penalty The simulations revealed that anodes with nearly identical overall charge capacities can still suffer vastly different internal degradation, depending on how binder materials and pore spaces are arranged.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 24 Aug. 2026
  • This is intended to minimize degradation, reducing contrast decay and improving light projection reliability, ultimately extending the screen's lifespan.
    — Michael Lydick, PC Magazine, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of degradation
Noun
  • Speaking to the Freedom Fighters club in Arlington July 1, Hall said moral degeneracy, discipline issues and low literacy rates are products of removing the Bible from classrooms.
    — Rachel Royster. Produced with AI assistance, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 July 2026
  • The team found that a near-infrared resolving power of at least 40 is the minimum needed to break that degeneracy.
    — Paul Sutter, Space.com, 10 June 2026
Definition of degeneracy

Browse Nearby Words

venal
venality
vend
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Cite this Entry

“Venality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/venality. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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