2 syllables: cor, rupt. Stress on rupt.
kur-UHPT
/kɚˈʌpt/
corrupt is pronounced kur-UHPT (/kɚˈʌpt/). It has two syllables (cor-rupt), with the stress on "rupt". Corrupt means to dishonestly destroy integrity, honesty, or fidelity, often for personal gain. It can describe people who bend rules or systems, as well as processes or data that have been degraded or contaminated. The term implies a change from a good or pure state to a worse one, typically due to influence, pressure, or illegitimate action.
Corrupt means to dishonestly destroy integrity, honesty, or fidelity, often for personal gain. It can describe people who bend rules or systems, as well as processes or data that have been degraded or contaminated. The term implies a change from a good or pure state to a worse one, typically due to influence, pressure, or illegitimate action.
"The ongoing bribery scheme threatened to corrupt the entire procurement process."
"Detonating evidence can corrupt an algorithm, leading to biased outputs."
"Poor data handling can corrupt your results and undermine a study’s validity."
Pronounce as kə-RUPT, with the primary stress on the second syllable. IPA US/UK/AU: kəˈrʌpt. Start with a schwa followed by a rolled or stopped ‘r’ depending on accent, then a short, tense vowel /ʌ/ as in 'strut', and end with a crisp /pt/ cluster. The lips close briefly for the /p/ and release into a near-silent /t/, often with a tiny aspirated release. You’ll want to avoid adding an extra syllable or vowel after the 'pt'. Audio reference: standard dictionary entries often provide hearing samples; try Cambridge/Oxford for examples.
Common errors: 1) inserting an extra vowel after the /t/ (e.g., ku-REAT instead of ku-RUPT). 2) Misplacing the stress as CO-rupt instead of ku-rupt; keep primary stress on the second syllable. 3) Overarticulating the /r/ in non-rhotic accents; in US, keep a light rhotic /ɹ/; in UK and AU, it’s weaker or non-rhotic—avoid adding a vowel after /r/. Corrections: practice kəˈrʌpt with a quick, clipped /t/ and ensure the /r/ does not fuse with the following vowel.
In US English, /kəˈrʌpt/ with a rhotic /ɹ/ and a short /ʌ/ in the stressed syllable. In UK English, /kəˈrʌpt/ is similar but may feature a slightly weaker rhotic and a more centralized /ɹ/ or even non-rhotic American subtypes; vowels tend to be shorter and tighter. In Australian English, /kəˈrʌpt/ aligns closely with US but may have a lighter vowel quality and a somewhat longer, less clipped /t/ due to Australian T-glottalization tendencies; generally still rhotic with a clear final /pt/ cluster.
The difficulty lies in the consonant cluster /pt/ at the end and the single-syllable word’s stress shift. The /ɹ/ in many varieties can be variable (strong in US, weaker in UK/AU). The vowel in the stressed syllable /ʌ/ is mid and could be conflated with /ə/ in fast speech. Additionally, the transition from a voiced liquid /ɹ/ to the plosive /p/ and then /t/ requires precise timing to avoid a lengthened or altered release.
There are no silent letters in corrupt. It is pronounced with three phonemic segments: /k/ (hard k), /ə/ (schwa at the start of the second syllable’s unstressed vowel), /ˈrʌpt/ where the primary stress sits on the second syllable. The final /pt/ is a voiced/voiceless combination where /p/ is aspirated and transitions quickly into /t/. Mouth positioning moves from a light bilabial stop to an alveolar plosive without a silent segment.
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Corrupt comes from the Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere, meaning to break to pieces, spoil, or ruin. corrumpere itself is formed from cum- ‘together’ + rumpere ‘to break’. In Classical Latin, corrumpere conveyed both literal breaking and figurative spoiling of morals or integrity. In Medieval Latin, corruptus expanded to describe moral decay as well as spoilage of food, data, or materials. The sense of moral degradation gained prominence in Early Modern English, aligning with social and political contexts where individuals or institutions could be “corrupted” by bribery, influence, or subversion. By the 16th–17th centuries, corrupt was widely used to describe actions, systems, or officials affected by corruption, and the noun corruption became common in legal and political discourse. Today, corrupt maintains both its moral and material senses, applying to people, processes, documents, software, and ecosystems when integrity or quality has been compromised. The word’score meaning centers on a transition from a good state to a worse one through external influence or internal compromise, with a strong negative valence that persists across contexts.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "corrupt" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "corrupt"
-upt sounds
-uct sounds
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