Tending to corrupt or cause corruption; having a corrupting influence or quality.
From Latin 'corruptus' (spoiled, broken) combined with the English suffix '-ious' meaning 'full of' or 'characterized by.' The word evolved to describe things that actively work toward corruption rather than just being corrupt themselves.
This is a rare adjective that shows how English loves to turn nouns into qualities—we don't just say 'that causes corruption,' we invented this word to pack it all together. It's the kind of word Shakespeare might have used to describe a poisonous influence.
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