Venality

Definition: Venality

Venality

Noun

1. Prostitution of talents or offices or services for reward.

Date "venality" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1755. (references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Greed	Noun: covetousness, ravenousness; Adjective: venality, avidity, cupidity; acquisitiveness (acquisition); desire.
Improbity	Perfidy; perfidiousness; Adjective: treachery, double dealing; unfairness; Adjective: knavery, roguery, rascality, foul play; jobbing, jobbery; graft, bribery; venality, nepotism; corruption, job, shuffle, fishy transaction; barratry, sharp practice, heads I win tails you lose; mouth honor; (flattery).
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Venality is the quality of being for sale, especially when one should act justly instead. This is usually classed as a vice, not a virtue.

In its most recognizable form, dishonesty, venality causes people to lie and steal for their personal advantage.

Venality in its mild form is a vice peculiar to persons occupied in by government or military organizations. In these, one is supposed to act for honor, not money. This helps assure that the organization can make a lasting settlement of disputes. For people to accept such settlements, the acts of the government must be seen as just. This perception enhances the legitimacy of the government.

In contrast, no one would be surprised to find a merchant or hired person making professional decisions for venal reasons. In some sense, their profession demands venality as a duty. This may be why many militaristic societies despise merchants.

Crosswords: Venality

English words defined with "venality": Mercenariness ♦ praetorian, pretorian. (references)

Specialty definitions using "venality": Saturnian Days. (references)

Subject	Topic	Quote
Human Rights	Thailand	The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, while the judiciary generally is regarded as independent, it is subject to corruption and has a reputation for venality. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
John Adams	1797-1801	If that solitary suffrage can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Venality" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Venality" is used about 25 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	100%	25	69,787

Expression using "venality": conscience venality. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language		Translations for "venality"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		ryshfetmarrje, korruptim (corruption, depravation, subornation). (various references)

Arabic		‏الفساد (blighter), ‏القابلية للرشوة (corruptibility). (various references)

Bulgarian		користолюбива постъпка, користолюбива подбуда, продажност (corruptibility, corruption), подкупност (corruption, graft). (various references)

Czech		prodejnost. (various references)

French		vénalité. (various references)

German		Käuflichkeit (availability, corruptibility, purchasability). (various references)

Greek		αργυρώνητο, δωροδοκία (bribe, bribery, corruption, hush money, subornation). (various references)

Hebrew		שחי�"ות (bribability), א�"בת בצע (avarice, greed). (various references)

Hungarian		megvesztegethetõség (corruptibility). (various references)

Manx		so-chreckys, so-chionnaght. (various references)

Pig Latin		enalityvay

Portuguese		venalidade (barratry). (various references)

Romanian		venalitate (corruption), corupţie (bribery, corruption, corruptness, depravity, rottenness, soil, taint). (various references)

Russian		продажность (corruptibility, corruption, salability). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		podmitljivost (corruptibility, corruption). (various references)

Spanish		venalidad (corruptibility). (various references)

Swedish		korruption (corruption, jobbery). (various references)

Turkish		yiyicilik, rüşvet alma. (various references)

Ukranian		товарність, продажність (corruptibility, corruption). (various references)

Vietnamese		tính chất dễ mua chuộc bằng tiền. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Misspellings
	"Venality" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: vanaity, venacity, venaity, venalith, vivality. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "venality" (pronounced vuna"lutē)
7	-u n a" l u t ē	banality, commonality, conditionality, constitutionality, criminality, dimensionality, functionality, impersonality, irrationality, nationality, originality, personality, proportionality, rationality.
6	-n a" l u t ē	finality, tonality.
5	-a" l u t ē	abnormality, actuality, bestiality, bisexuality, brutality, causality, centrality, collegiality, confidentiality, congeniality, criticality, cyclicality, duality, eventuality, extraterritoriality, fatality, formality, frugality, generality, geniality, heterosexuality, homosexuality, hospitality, illegality, immorality, immortality, impartiality, individuality, informality, instrumentality, legality, lethality, liberality, locality, materiality, mentality, modality, morality, mortality, municipality, musicality, mutuality, neutrality, normality, partiality, plurality, practicality, principality, punctuality, reality, sensuality, sentimentality, sexuality, speciality, spirituality, technicality, theatricality, totality, triviality, universality, unreality, vitality.
4	-l u t ē	ability, acceptability, accessibility, accountability, adaptability, admissibility, advisability, affordability, agility, amiability, applicability, availability, believability, capability, civility, comparability, compatibility, comprehensibility, convertibility, credibility, credulity, culpability, debility, deductibility, deniability, dependability, desirability, disability, docility, ductility, durability, electability, eligibility, enforceability, equality, facility, fallibility, feasibility, fertility, fidelity, flammability, flexibility, fragility, frivolity, futility, gentility, gullibility, hostility, humility, immobility, impossibility, inability, inaccessibility, incivility, incompatibility, incredulity, indestructibility, inequality, inevitability, infallibility, infertility, infidelity, inflexibility, instability, invincibility, invisibility, invulnerability, irresponsibility, irritability, legibility, liability, malleability, maneuverability, marketability, miscibility, mobility, motility, nobility, nonutility, palatability, permeability, plausibility, polity, portability, possibility, predictability, probability, profitability, quality, readability, reliability, respectability, responsibility, seasonality, senility, sensibility, stability, sterility, suitability, survivability, susceptibility, sustainability, tranquility, transferability, unavailability, unpredictability, unreliability, utility, variability, versatility, viability, virility, visibility, volatility, vulnerability.
3	-u t ē	absurdity, acidity, activity, acuity, adversity, affinity, aggressivity, alacrity, alkalinity, ambiguity, amenity, amity, analyticity, animosity, annuity, anonymity, antiquity, anxiety, atrocity, audacity, austerity, authenticity, authority, barbarity, biodiversity, brevity, calamity, capacity, captivity, cavity, celebrity, charity, chastity, clarity, commodity, community, complexity, complicity, conductivity, conformity, congruity, connectivity, continuity, creativity, crotchety, curiosity, deformity, deity, density, depravity, deputy, dexterity, dignity, discontinuity, disparity, dissimilarity, disunity, diversity, divinity, domesticity, duplicity, eccentricity, elasticity, electricity, enmity, enormity, entity, equanimity, equity, eternity, ethnicity, exclusivity, expressivity, extremity, falsity, familiarity, Felicity, femininity, ferocity, festivity, fluidity, fraternity, generosity, gratuity, gravity, heredity, heterogeneity, hilarity, homogeneity, humanity, humidity, hyperactivity, hypersensitivity, identity, illiquidity, immaturity, immunity, impropriety, impunity, impurity, inactivity, incapacity, incongruity, indemnity, indignity, inequity, inferiority, infinity, infirmity, ingenuity, inhumanity, insanity, insecurity, insensitivity, insularity, integrity, intensity, irregularity, laity, laxity, levity, liquidity, lividity, longevity, majority, masculinity, maternity, maturity, mediocrity, mendacity, minority, modernity, monstrosity, morbidity, multiplicity, nativity, necessity, negativity, Nonconformity, nonentity, notoriety, nudity, obesity, objectivity, obscenity, obscurity, oddity, opacity, opportunity, overcapacity, oversensitivity, parity, particularity, passivity, paternity, paucity, peculiarity, perpetuity, perplexity, perversity, piety, polarity, pomposity, popularity, posterity, priority, probity, proclivity, productivity, profanity, progressivity, promiscuity, propensity, propriety, prosperity, proximity, publicity, purity, quantity, radioactivity, rapidity, rarity, reactivity, receptivity, reciprocity, reflexivity, regularity, relativity, religiosity, retroactivity, rickety, rigidity, salinity, sanctity, sanity, scarcity, security, selectivity, seniority, sensitivity, serendipity, serenity, severity, similarity, simplicity, sincerity, sobriety, society, solemnity, solidarity, solidity, sorority, specificity, spontaneity, stupidity, subjectivity, superconductivity, superfluidity, superiority, supermajority, surety, temerity, tenacity, timidity, toxicity, Trinity, turbidity, ubiquity, unanimity, unfamiliarity, uniformity, unity, university, unpopularity, uppity, validity, vanity, variety, varsity, velocity, velvety, veracity, Verity, vicinity, virginity, virtuosity, viscosity, voracity, vulgarity.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Direct Anagrams: natively.
	Words within the letters "a-e-i-l-n-t-v-y"
	-1 letter: naively, naivety, ventail, vilayet.
	-2 letters: alevin, alvine, entail, lenity, levant, levity, litany, native, neatly, tenail, tineal, vainly, valine, vanity, veinal, venial, vineal.
	-3 letters: alien, aline, alive, anile, anvil, elain, elint, entia, inlay, inlet, laity, laten, leant, leavy, levin, liane, liney, linty, liven, naevi, naive, navel, nival, telia, tenia, tinea, valet, vealy, veiny, venal, vinal, vinyl, vitae, vital, yenta.
	-4 letters: alit, anil, ante, anti, ayin, elan, envy, etna, evil, ilea, inly, lain, lane, late, lati, lave, lean, lent, leva, levy, lien, line, lint, liny, lite, live, nail, nave, navy, neat, nevi, nite, tael, tail, tain, tale, tali, teal, tela, tile, tine, tiny, tivy, tyin, tyne, vail, vain, vale, vane, veal, veil, vein, vela, vena, vent, vial, vile, vina, vine, viny, vita, yean, yeti.
	-5 letters: ail, ain, ait, ale, alt, ane, ani, ant, any, ate, ave, aye, eat, eta, ivy, lat, lav, lay, lea, lei, let, lev, ley, lie, lin, lit, lye, nae, nay, net, nil, nit, tae, tan, tav, tea, tel, ten, tie, til, tin, tye, van, vat, vet, via, vie, yea, yen, yet, yin.
	Words containing the letters "a-e-i-l-n-t-v-y"
	+1 letter: sylvanite.
	+2 letters: inactively, inevitably, negatively, sylvanites.
	+3 letters: antislavery, attentively, eventuality, genitivally, intervalley, inviolately, narratively, normatively, plaintively, tentatively, ventilatory.
	+4 letters: ambivalently, devotionally, equivalently, evidentially, evolutionary, inchoatively, indicatively, innovatively, intervalleys, inveterately, irrelevantly, ruminatively, transitively, universality, valetudinary, venerability.
	+5 letters: alternatively, connotatively, contrastively, devastatingly, devolutionary, everlastingly, explanatively, hypervigilant, imaginatively, inadvertently, inattentively, inevitability, informatively, interactively, intravenously, inventorially, originatively, reverentially, revolutionary, substantively, terminatively, unassertively, undeviatingly, vulnerability.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.