A.Word.A.Day --turpitude

“[On Sep 13, 1962,] federal courts ordered the University of Mississippi to admit its first Black student, James Meredith. The state legislature passed a bill declaring that those charged with crimes of moral turpitude could not be admitted as students to a state university, and, the day it became law, Meredith was convicted of voter fraud, a crime he had not committed.”
Casey Cep; Demon-Driven; The New Yorker; Nov 30, 2020.

“’Do you smoke?’ the nurse asked. It was a cheeky question. She already knew the answer, given he smells like a torched Audi.
‘I do,’ he replied.
‘How many a day?’ she inquired affably.
‘Rothmans,’ he answered.
‘Yeees, but... how many?’
‘I just wanted you to know I’m paying my taxes,’ he said. ‘How many? Oh, a couple.’
‘So should we say five, then?’ she asked.
‘No, no ... not five. Five? Goodness ... a man would be mad. No. Two or three.’
‘So,’ she nodded, noting this on the questionnaire, ‘three cigarettes a day.’
‘What are you even talking about?’ he said. ‘Packets. Three packets. Why would you smoke at all if you only smoked three smokes a day? Do you not understand the nature of addiction?’
...
I’ve done the maths on his habit (50 years x 365 days x 60 cigs = 1,095,000). He appears to have gotten away with smoking a million cigarettes. I guess if the packs were stacked they’d be about the size of a school bus. But you’d buy the bus and the school itself for the $2 million the smokes cost.
...
He always has one lit, and in absent-minded moments two -- one waggling in his lips as he talks and the other being used as a baton to enhance his arguments. And I notice that every time he draws a lungful, as the ciggie crackles and glows, his pupils dilate, and a moment’s serenity washes over his sallow face. So, who am I to say he’s got it wrong? If it kills him now, he’s still played games of chance against God and won.
...
And when he finally got in to see the doctor he told her: ‘The kidneys and liver, we’re not discussing at all. They’re off-limits, a no-go zone, my private affair.’ That he felt protective of these organs rather than his lungs tells you how appreciative he is of the vintner’s art.
...
We all tell our doctors we’re drinking half as much as we are, and they immediately double the amount to get nearer the truth. The first lesson at medical school is that each patient is a propagandist for their own virtue, a rakehell in sheep’s clothing. I could have admitted to only a quarter of my turpitude -- but that would have been a breach of faith.”
Anson Cameron; Time’s Bitter Pill; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Jun 7, 2025.

See more usage examples of turpitude in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.