English Dictionary

venal

/ˈviːnəl/

adj

(archaic) For sale; available for purchase. / Of a position, privilege etc.: available for purchase rather than assigned on merit. / Capable of being bought (of a person); willing to take bribes.

He was known for his venal behavior.

意味（1）

(archaic) For sale; available for purchase.

意味（2）

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.

意味（3）

Capable of being bought (of a person); willing to take bribes.

意味（4）

(of behaviour etc.) 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.