bad habit; evil custom; harmful practice
Formal or literary term for a deeply rooted, undesirable custom or practice, often with moral overtones. Used in writing or formal speech to criticize social or institutional habits.
In that village, old evil customs still remain.
The politician promised to sweep away the harmful practices of politics.
From Middle Chinese-derived elements 陋 (lowly, vulgar, base) and 習 (habit, custom). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the compound has been used in formal Japanese writing to denote a base or vulgar custom.