Corruptness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The characteristic of deviating from moral integrity, exhibiting dishonesty, and being altered from an original state of purity or correctness
2. The attribute of lacking ethical integrity or honesty, demonstrating moral decay, and being changed from its original unblemished or accurate form
3. The quality of being morally compromised and dishonest, reflecting a departure from purity or truthfulness

Etymology: "Corruptness" is simply "corrupt" with the suffix "-ness" attached, and the suffix is the older and more interesting part of the story. "-ness" traces back through Old English "-nes" and its Germanic ancestors, and its job has always been to turn an adjective into a noun naming a quality or state: "good" becomes "goodness," "kind" becomes "kindness." Attaching it to "corrupt" gives a noun for the state of being corrupt, and the word's sense of moral dishonesty comes straight from the adjective's older meaning of spoiling or perverting something that was once sound. The word is an ordinary English formation with no famous coiner or dramatic shift in meaning. Its main use is as the abstract counterpart to "corrupt," so a reader who knows the adjective already knows most of what this noun means.

Synonyms: depravity, dishonesty, immorality, wickedness, corruption

Antonyms: integrity, honesty, virtue, purity, decency