deprave

/dɪˈpɹeɪv/

Etymology

From Middle English depraven, from Old French depraver, from Latin dēprāvāre (“pervert, distort, corrupt”), from de- + pravus (“crooked, distorted, perverse, wicked”).

deprave means To speak ill of; to depreciate; to malign; to revile Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 72 out of 100.

Why this word is great

DEPRAVE — [Verb] To corrupt morally; to pervert or make worse. From Middle English depraven, from Old French depraver, from Latin dēprāvāre ("to pervert, corrupt"), from de- ("completely") + pravus ("crooked, wicked"). Unlike "corrupt," which often implies a systemic stain of dishonesty, or "pervert," which suggests a wrenching twist from a natural course, to deprave is to methodically poison the ethical faculty itself. It is the tutor who teaches cruelty as a game, the calculated whisper that turns doubt into hatred, or the slow, gratified erosion of another's innocence—the grim alchemy of bending a soul until it holds a permanent, crooked shape. To deprave is not merely to break a rule, but to break the compass by which rules are known.

verb

To speak ill of; to depreciate; to malign; to revile
To make bad or worse; to vitiate; to corrupt