Translation guide
The English word "corrupt" has several distinct meanings. It can refer to dishonest or illegal behavior, especially by people in power. It can also mean to change something from its original, pure, or correct state, such as data, text, or morals. This guide breaks down these meanings and provides natural Japanese equivalents.
Describing a person, organization, or system that is dishonest, accepts bribes, or engages in illegal activity for personal gain.
That country is known for its corrupt government.
The corrupt police officer was taking bribes.
Specifically refers to corruption involving bribery or misuse of public office. Often used in legal or news contexts.
The minister resigned due to a corruption scandal.
A broader term meaning 'unjust' or 'dishonest'. It can describe corrupt practices, but is less specific than 腐敗した.
The corrupt dealings came to light.
Implies moral degradation or depravity. Can be used for individuals who have fallen into corrupt ways, but has a stronger moral judgment tone.
He led a corrupt lifestyle.
To alter or damage data, files, or text so that it becomes unreliable, unreadable, or incorrect.
The standard term for data corruption, file damage, or physical breakage. Used for hardware, software, and digital files.
The hard disk got corrupted and the data became unreadable.
The file is corrupt, so it cannot be opened.
A general word for 'break' or 'be broken'. In IT contexts, it can mean data or a system is corrupted, but it's less technical than 破損する.
Specifically refers to text becoming garbled or mojibake due to encoding issues. Not for general data corruption.
To cause someone to become morally bad or to lose their integrity, often through influence or temptation.
To corrupt someone morally, to lead them into depravity or bad habits. Often used for people being corrupted by power, money, or bad company.
Power can corrupt people.
Bad friends corrupted him.
Can also be used metaphorically for moral corruption, similar to 'rot' or 'decay' of character. Often used for systemic corruption of morals.
Literally 'to poison'. Can be used figuratively to mean corrupting someone's mind or morals, but it's strong and literary.
To pay someone, especially an official, to act dishonestly or illegally in your favor.
The most direct verb for bribing someone, especially in a business or political context. It implies buying someone's influence or cooperation.
He tried to corrupt (bribe) the official.
Literally 'to give a bribe'. A common phrase for the act of bribing.
An idiomatic expression meaning to bribe or grease someone's palm. Literally 'use under the sleeve'. Colloquial.
Both refer to corruption, but 腐敗 (fuhai) is a broader term for decay and loss of integrity, often used for systemic moral or political corruption. 汚職 (oshoku) specifically refers to bribery and graft in public office. Use 汚職 for legal/formal contexts involving bribery, and 腐敗 for general corruptness.
When talking about corrupted files or data, do not use 腐敗 (fuhai) or 堕落 (daraku). These words imply moral decay. Use 破損 (hason) or 壊れる (kowareru) instead.
The corrupt politician was arrested.
Standard translation for a dishonest politician.
The file is corrupt and won't open.
Use 破損 for digital corruption.
Power tends to corrupt.
A common saying; 堕落させる is also possible.
データが壊れてしまった。
The data got corrupted.
The email is corrupted (garbled) and unreadable.
Greed corrupted his heart.
悪書が青少年を毒する。
Bad books corrupt the youth.
He corrupted the police officer by giving a bribe to overlook it.
That company apparently corrupted the government office with bribes to get the contract.