Turpitude
Etymology
From Latin "turpitudo" (baseness, ugliness, disgrace), from "turpis" (foul, ugly, shameful). The Latin fused physical ugliness and moral shame in one word, and English inherited that fusion — a vileness you can almost see.
noun · /TUR-pi-tood/
Depravity; baseness of character or conduct.
What it names
Names moral foulness in a single grave word — kept alive largely by the legal phrase "moral turpitude."
Example
The visa was denied on grounds of moral turpitude, a phrase the lawyer had to explain twice.
Related idea
Depravity stresses corruption, a falling-away from good; turpitude stresses the resulting foulness and disgrace. Depravity is the process; turpitude is the stain it leaves.