corrupt official
Dishonest government employee
A corrupt official is a person in a position of public authority who abuses that power for personal gain—through bribery, embezzlement, or favoritism.
The phrase implies betrayal of public trust: Corrupt officials siphoned millions from the relief fund.
The term spans contexts from local bureaucrats to national politicians, wherever office meets opportunity.
- bribeIllicit payment for favor
- brown envelopeTan paper mailer
- under the tableWithout official documentation
- kickbackIllegal payment for services
- graftIllicit political gain
slush fund · embezzlement · dirty money · cronyism · sleaze · scandal · indictment · politician · bureaucrat · public trust · crooked · dirty · greedy · payoff · laundering · coverup · nepotism · fraud
- Crookscrook, swindler, fraudster, embezzler, con artist
- charactersprotagonist, antagonist, hero, character, characters
- criminalsmurderer, thief, burglar, criminal, killer
- action clichesexplosion, car chase, one-liner, slow motion, shootout
- Traitorstraitor, turncoat, betrayer, Judas, Benedict Arnold
- troublemakerstroublemaker, rascals, delinquents, imps, brats
corrupt, official, corruption, corrupted, corrupting, corruptible, incorruptible, corruptly, corruptor