Crossword Dictionary
debauch
debauch - v
corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality; "debauch the young people with wine and women"
synonyms
abase, bastardize, canker, cheapen, corrupt, debase, degrade, demean, demoralize, deprave, deteriorate, lessen, pervert, poison, profane, prostitute, subvert, vitiate, warp
in a sentence
the long stay on a tropical isle had debauched the ship's crew to the point where they no longer acted like naval professionals
If memory serves, Sixx’s proudly debauched autobiography was pretty graphic all by itself.
etymology
1590s, "to entice, seduce, lead astray" (from allegiance, family, etc.), from French débaucher"entice from work or duty," from Old French desbaucher "to lead astray," a word of uncertain origin.
Supposedly it is literally "to trim (wood) to make a beam" (from bauch "beam," from Frankish balk or some other Germanic source akin to English balk (n.)). The notion of "shaving" something away, perhaps, but the root is also said to be a word meaning "workshop," which gets toward the notion of "to lure someone off the job;" either way the sense evolution is unclear.
The more specific meaning "seduce from virtue or morality, corrupt the morals or principles of" is from c. 1600, especially "to corrupt with lewdness, seduce sexually," usually in reference to women. Intransitive sense "indulge in excess in sensual enjoyment" is from 1640s. As a noun, "a bout of excessive sensual pleasure," c. 1600.