debauch

[ dih-bawch ]

verb (used with object)

1. to corrupt by sensuality, intemperance, etc.; seduce.
2. to corrupt or pervert; sully:

   His honesty was debauched by the prospect of easy money.

3. Archaic. to lead away, as from allegiance or duty.

verb (used without object)

1. to indulge in debauchery.

noun

1. a period of wanton or sensual self-indulgence.
2. an uninhibited spree or party; orgy:

   a wild debauch.

debauch

/ dɪˈbɔːtʃ; dɪˈbɔːtʃɪdlɪ /

verb

1. when tr, usually passive to lead into a life of depraved self-indulgence
2. tr to seduce (a woman)

noun

1. an instance or period of extreme dissipation

Derived Forms

• deˈbauchery, noun
• debauchedly, adverb
• deˈbauchedness, noun
• deˈbaucher, noun

Other Words From

• de·baucher noun
• de·bauchment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of debauch¹

First recorded in 1585–95; from French débaucher “to entice away from duty, debauch,” Old French desbauchier “to disperse, scatter,” equivalent to des- dis- ¹ + -bauchier, derivative of bauc, bauch beam (from Germanic; balcony, balk; compare French ébaucher “to rough-hew”); hence, presumably, “to hew (beams),” becoming “to split, separate,” becoming “to separate from work or duty”

Word History and Origins

Origin of debauch¹

C16: from Old French desbaucher to corrupt, literally: to shape (timber) roughly, from bauch beam, of Germanic origin

Example Sentences

Transcendence, in this case, mostly taking the form of a period-costumed Eurotrashy debauch in the brothels and speakeasies of 1910s New Orleans.

From New York Times

It is a point that Vladimir Lenin himself reportedly made more than a century ago, which was repeated by legendary economist John Maynard Keynes: “There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency.”

From Seattle Times

“There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency,” John Maynard Keynes wrote in 1919 in “The Economic Consequences of the Peace.”

From New York Times

The very prospect of beer which my expected coming had opened to him had proved too much, and he had begun too early on his expected debauch.

From Literature

Take a break from taking a break with a long debauch at the Chateau Marmont?

From Washington Post