ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsVvenal
ISEE/SSAThard
venal
Meaning: willing to act dishonestly in exchange for money
venal in a sentence
How venal is used in real sentences:
The venal official sold building permits to the highest bidder.
A venal judge secretly altered his rulings for wealthy defendants.
“After residents learned that a planning committee could sequester dissenting speakers in a remote overflow room, suspicion hardened into accusations that council members were venal allies of developers.”
— from the passage The Bellwether Revision
Synonyms for venal
Other words for venal — corrupt, bribable and corruptible — carry the same meaning.
- corrupt
- bribable
- corruptible
Antonyms of venal
Words that mean the opposite of venal:
- honest
- principled
- incorruptible
Where it comes from
From Latin venalis, meaning 'for sale.'
Memory hook
VENAL sounds like 'vend': a venal person treats integrity as something to sell.