deprave

verb (used with object), de·praved, de·prav·ing.

to make morally bad or evil; vitiate; corrupt.

Obsolete. to defame.

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English depraven (< Anglo-French) < Latin dēprāvāre to pervert, corrupt, equivalent to dē- de- + prāv(us) crooked + -āre infinitive suffix

Related forms

dep·ra·va·tion

[dep-ruh-vey-shuh

n] , noun

de·prav·er, noun

de·prav·ing·ly, adverb

non·dep·ra·va·tion, noun

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the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

deprave (dɪˈpreɪv)

—vb
1.	to make morally bad; corrupt; vitiate
2.	obsolete to defame; slander

[C14: from Latin dēprāvāre to distort, corrupt, from de- + prāvus crooked]

depravation

—n

de'praver

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

deprave

mid-14c., from O.Fr. depraver, from L. depravare "corrupt," from de- "completely" + pravus "crooked."

Example sentences

Better take them away from those who might deprave them.

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Related Words

depravity

pollute

Matching Quote

"It is curious to speculate why pornography is considered especially likely to stimulate its readers into performing the activities described. The literature of murder is a vast one, particularly in the English language; enormous ingenuity is expended by writers in devising techniques for killing people, and these techniques are described with the greatest possible realism. The motives which would make murder desirable or profitable are so elaborated that they could easily persuade a reader into whose hands these books would be likely to fall that their case was parallel with that described in the book so that their problems could be solved in the same way. But I have never seen it seriously suggested that the literature of murder—detective stories or crime stories—tended to deprave and corrupt, or would incite weak-minded or immature readers into carrying out in reality the activities described in the fantasies. On the contrary, the literature of murder is considered particularly "healthy" and desirable; and in England representatives of all the most respected professions have stated that detective stories are among their favorite reading. Musing about murder is apparently "healthy"; musing about sexual enjoyment is not."

-Geoffrey Gorer