venal

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
8
Words With Friends
11
Letters
5
Pronunciation
/ˈviːnəl/

Definition of venal

5 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. (archaic, rare)Venous; pertaining to veins.
See all 5 definitions

adj

  1. (archaic, rare)Venous; pertaining to veins.
  2. (archaic)For sale; available for purchase.
    “Because lips libertine and and venal had murmured such words to him, he believed but little in the candour of hers; […].”
  3. Of a position, privilege etc.: available for purchase rather than assigned on merit.
    “Thus, regimental commands in the army were – as with the judiciary or the financial bureaucracy – venal posts, which were purchased, bequeathed and sold among the nobility.”
  4. Capable of being bought (of a person); willing to take bribes.
  5. Corrupt, mercenary.
    “Though there is a disposition in mankind, to declaim against the corruption and peculation of the present times, as being more venal than formerly; yet, if we look back to different periods, we shall find statesmen and politicians, as selfish and corrupt, […] as those who have lately figured on the political stage.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Latin vēna (“vein”) + -al.

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