Meaning
Corruption means dishonest or illegal behavior, especially by people in positions of power such as government officials, police, or corporate leaders. It can also refer to the decay or moral deterioration of something.
Grammar and Usage
- Part of speech: Noun (uncountable, sometimes countable)
- Common structures:
- Corruption in + organization/sector – “corruption in politics”
- Fight/tackle/eradicate corruption – verbs used with the noun
- Widespread/systemic corruption – common adjectives describing scale or extent
Common Phrases
- Political corruption – unethical or illegal actions by politicians
- Corporate corruption – dishonest acts in business
- Moral corruption – decline in moral values
- Corruption scandal – public exposure of corrupt acts
- Anti-corruption campaign – effort to reduce or eliminate corruption
Collocations
- adjective + corruption: widespread, deep-rooted, massive, political, corporate
- verb + corruption: fight, expose, prevent, reduce, investigate
- corruption + noun: case, charge, investigation, trial, network
Examples
- The government promised to fight corruption within its agencies.
- A major corruption scandal led to the resignation of several ministers.
- Corporate corruption often involves bribery and embezzlement.
- Many citizens protested against widespread corruption in the police force.
- The foundation launched an anti-corruption campaign to promote transparency.
- Over time, the regime’s moral corruption became impossible to ignore.
- Transparency International reports on levels of corruption worldwide.
- He was arrested for corruption charges after taking money from contractors.
Synonyms or Related
- bribery
- fraud
- dishonesty
- misconduct
- immorality
- wrongdoing
Antonym
- integrity
- honesty
- virtue
- fairness