Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Depravity
De-prav′i-ty
,Noun.
[From
Deprave
: cf. L. pravitas
crookedness, perverseness.] The state of being depraved or corrupted; a vitiated state of moral character; general badness of character; wickedness of mind or heart; absence of religious feeling and principle.
Syn. – Corruption; vitiation; wickedness; vice; contamination; degeneracy.
–
Depravity
, Depravation
, Corruption
. Depravilty is a vitiated state of mind or feeling; as, the depravity of the human heart; depravity of public morals. Depravation points to the act or process of making depraved, and hence to the end thus reached; as, a gradual depravation of principle; a depravation of manners, of the heart, etc. Corruption is the only one of these words which applies to physical substances, and in reference to these denotes the process by which their component parts are dissolved. Hence, when figuratively used, it denotes an utter vitiation of principle or feeling. Depravity applies only to the mind and heart: we can speak of a depraved taste, or a corrupt taste; in the first we introduce the notion that there has been the influence of bad training to pervert; in the second, that there is a want of true principle to pervert; in the second, that there is a want of true principles to decide. The other two words have a wider use: we can speak of the depravation or the corruption of taste and public sentiment. Depravity is more or less open; corruption is more or less disguised in its operations. What is depraved requires to be reformed; what is corrupt requires to be purified. Webster 1828 Edition
Depravity
DEPRAVITY
, n.1.
Corruption; a vitiated state; as the depravity of manners and morals.2.
A vitiated state of the heart; wickedness; corruption of moral principles; destitution of holiness or good principles.Definition 2024
depravity
depravity
English
Noun
depravity (plural depravities)
- (uncountable) The state or condition of being depraved; moral debasement.
- 1850, Herman Melville, White Jacket, or, The World on a Man-of-War, ch. 34,
- Depravity in the oppressed is no apology for the oppressor.
- 1850, Herman Melville, White Jacket, or, The World on a Man-of-War, ch. 34,
- (countable) A particular depraved act or trait.
- 1914, Julian Hawthorne, The Subterranean Brotherhood, ch. 16,
- There were men there who had committed merciless robberies, cruel murders, heartless swindles, abominable depravities.
- 1914, Julian Hawthorne, The Subterranean Brotherhood, ch. 16,
- (uncountable, Christian theology) Inborn corruption, entailing the belief that every facet of human nature has been polluted, defiled, and contaminated by sin.
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne,The Scarlet Letter, ch. 8,
- Here is a child of three years old, and she cannot tell who made her! Without question, she is equally in the dark as to her soul, its present depravity, and future destiny!
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne,The Scarlet Letter, ch. 8,
Synonyms
Translations
The state or condition of being depraved
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A particular depraved act or trait
Inborn corruption
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Related terms
References
- “depravity” in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
- depravity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- “depravity” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
- “depravity” in Microsoft's Encarta World English Dictionary, North American Edition (2007)
- "depravity" in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (Wordsmyth, 2002)
- "depravity" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
- Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
- Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)