What does deprave mean?
To deprave is to make something or someone morally bad — to corrupt character, degrade standards, or lead toward wickedness. The word is strongly negative and formal in tone, appearing most frequently in moral criticism, legal discussion, and literary prose rather than casual speech. A person might warn that bad company can deprave a child, or that unchecked power tends to deprave those who hold it. In British and American obscenity law, the paired phrase "deprave and corrupt" became the classic legal standard for deciding whether material was obscene, cementing the word's association with questions of public morality. Related forms include the much more common adjective "depraved" (thoroughly immoral) and the noun "depravity" (moral corruption). Derived from Latin roots meaning literally "to make crooked," deprave preserves an ancient metaphor: morality as straightness, and corruption as a bending away from what is right.
verbTo make something or someone morally bad or evil; to corrupt or degrade the character, morals, or quality of a person or thing.
- To make someone or something morally bad or evil; to corrupt.
- (Law) To render (a publication, act, etc.) liable to be judged obscene by tending to deprave and corrupt those exposed to it.
"The corrupt official used his power to deprave everyone around him."
"Critics argued that such violent imagery would deprave young viewers."
"He claimed that wealth had depraved his character rather than improved it."
The phrase 'deprave and corrupt' is so entrenched in English law that it has its own legal shorthand — the Hicklin test — dating back to 1868.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of deprave
"Deprave" comes from the Latin verb "depravare", formed from "de-" (intensively) plus "pravus" meaning "crooked, perverse, or morally warped." It entered English via Old French "depraver" in the late Middle Ages / early modern period. The underlying image is physical: to bend something out of shape, applied figuratively to morals. Cognates sharing the Latin root "pravus" include "depraved", "depravity", and "depravation".
Related word forms
How deprave is actually used
"Deprave" is formal and literary in register, appearing most often in legal, moral, or academic contexts. It carries strong negative connotation and is typically applied to influences, environments, or people deemed morally corrosive. The adjective "depraved" is far more common in everyday usage than the verb itself.
Easily confused with deprave
"Deprived" means lacking basic necessities or advantages, while "deprave" means to morally corrupt; they share a root idea of taking away but differ entirely in meaning.