ˈleprəsē, -si noun
( -es )
Etymology: leprous + -y
1. : a chronic disease caused by infection with an acid-fast bacillus ( Mycobacterium leprae ) and characterized by the formation of nodules on the surface of the body and especially on the face or by the appearance of tuberculoid macules on the skin that enlarge and spread and are accompanied by loss of sensation followed sooner or later in both types by involvement of nerves with eventual paralysis, wasting of muscle, and production of deformities and mutilations
2. : an ideological or moral influence that is felt to deteriorate sound principles or moral values
cannot think of a single collective organization today … untainted by the leprosy of nihilism — Ignazio Silone
even moral leprosy can be cured by divine grace — Time
this badness is not radical … this leprosy cannot destroy man's original grandeur — Jacques Maritain