What does depravation mean?
Depravation is a formal noun referring to the process by which something—most often a person's character, taste, or morals—is corrupted or made morally worse, as well as to the corrupted state that results. It derives from the verb 'deprave', meaning to make morally bad, and carries a strong connotation of decline from a former standard of goodness or purity. The word appears chiefly in elevated writing: sermons, literary criticism, moral philosophy, and discussions of art or media said to cause the depravation of taste or virtue. It should not be confused with 'deprivation', which concerns the withholding of necessities rather than moral ruin. Because 'depravity' more commonly names the end state of wickedness, 'depravation' retains a slightly archaic flavor, useful when a writer wants to stress corruption as an ongoing process rather than a fixed condition.
nounThe act or process of making something morally bad or corrupting it; the state of being morally degraded or corrupted.
- The action of corrupting something morally, or the state of having become morally corrupted.
- (Rare) The state of being made worse or deteriorated in quality more generally.
"Critics argued that the novel depicted the gradual depravation of an otherwise decent man."
"The pamphlet condemned the depravation of public morals by cheap sensationalist journalism."
"He traced his character's downfall as a slow depravation that began with small compromises."
Rarely used in the plural; usually treated as an uncountable mass noun referring to a general process or condition.
"The memoir catalogued the many depravations of court life."
Though 'depravation' looks like a typo of 'deprivation', the two are opposites in spirit: one takes things away, the other rots them from within.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of depravation
Depravation comes from the Latin verb depravare, formed from de- ('thoroughly' or 'away') plus pravus ('crooked, perverse'), so its underlying image is of bending something straight into a crooked shape. It entered English in the late Middle English period via Old French, alongside the related nouns depravity and pravity, all ultimately from the same Latin root pravus. Its cognates thus cluster around the idea of crookedness turned into a metaphor for moral perversity.
Related word forms
How depravation is actually used
Formal and somewhat literary in register; in modern usage 'depravity' or 'corruption' is often preferred for the resulting state, while 'depravation' tends to emphasize the process of corruption.
Easily confused with depravation
Deprivation means the loss or denial of something needed or wanted, while depravation means moral corruption or degradation.