From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Depravity \De*prav"i*ty\, n. [From {Deprave}: cf. L. pravitas
crookedness, perverseness.]
The state of being depraved or corrupted; a vitiated state of
moral character; general badness of character; wickedness of
mind or heart; absence of religious feeling and principle.
[1913 Webster]
{Total depravity}. See {Original sin}, and {Calvinism}.
Syn: Corruption; vitiation; wickedness; vice; contamination;
degeneracy.
Usage: {Depravity}, {Depravation}, {Corruption}. Depravilty
is a vitiated state of mind or feeling; as, the
depravity of the human heart; depravity of public
morals. Depravation points to the act or process of
making depraved, and hence to the end thus reached;
as, a gradual depravation of principle; a depravation
of manners, of the heart, etc. Corruption is the only
one of these words which applies to physical
substances, and in reference to these denotes the
process by which their component parts are dissolved.
Hence, when figuratively used, it denotes an utter
vitiation of principle or feeling. Depravity applies
only to the mind and heart: we can speak of a depraved
taste, or a corrupt taste; in the first we introduce
the notion that there has been the influence of bad
training to pervert; in the second, that there is a
want of true principle to pervert; in the second, that
there is a want of true principles to decide. The
other two words have a wider use: we can speak of the
depravation or the corruption of taste and public
sentiment. Depravity is more or less open; corruption
is more or less disguised in its operations. What is
depraved requires to be reformed; what is corrupt
requires to be purified.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
depravity
n 1: moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral
principles; "the luxury and corruption among the upper
classes"; "moral degeneracy followed intellectual
degeneration"; "its brothels, its opium parlors, its
depravity"; "Rome had fallen into moral putrefaction" [syn:
{corruption}, {degeneracy}, {depravation}, {depravity},
{putrefaction}]
2: a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice; "the
various turpitudes of modern society" [syn: {depravity},
{turpitude}]
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