Turpitude comes from Latin turpis, meaning "vile" or "base." The word is often heard in the phrase "moral turpitude," an expression used in law to designate an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community. A criminal offense that involves moral turpitude is considered wrong or evil by moral standards, in addition to being the violation of a statute.
pictorial advertisements for chic clothing and fragrances in which drug addiction and other forms of moral turpitude are depicted as alternative fashion statements
Recent Examples on the WebSince late-stage syphilis attacked the nose, those so afflicted were seen as bearing proof of moral turpitude.Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2022 Norris resigned from his office in June 2021 after Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall moved to impeach him after being charged with four instances of corruption in office and eleven instances of commission of crimes involving moral turpitude. Howard Koplowitz | Hkoplowitz@al.com, al, 16 May 2022 By 1900, nativism had crept into the temperance discourse, as immigrants from Ireland and Italy were associated with drunkenness and moral turpitude. Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 19 Apr. 2022 Norris was charged with four instances of corruption in office and eleven instances of commission of crimes involving moral turpitude. Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 14 Jan. 2022 War became meaningless and simply barbaric, an occasion for moral compromise and turpitude. Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 18 Mar. 2022 Norris was charged with four instances of corruption in office and eleven instances of commission of crimes involving moral turpitude. Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 14 Jan. 2022 In the 1980s, a divestment movement took hold; any engagement with the regime came to be seen as a marker of moral turpitude. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2022 Even if prosecutors choose not to include the moral turpitude label, a future election commission judge could still decide Netanyahu's convictions and sentence barred him from politics for the same seven-year period. Hadas Gold, Andrew Carey And Amir Tal, CNN, 18 Jan. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle French, from Latin turpitudo, from turpis vile, base