polluting

adjective

pol·​lut·​ing pə-ˈlü-tiŋ 

: causing pollution

… a region that has been dependent upon basic industries such as coal mining and metal work—relatively polluting industries.

—Patricia L. Layman

The recycling process itself can be polluting. Recyclers find it difficult to separate recyclable from nonrecyclable plastics, which causes the end product to be useless.

—Sally Hayhow Cullen

Examples of polluting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On July 5, a symbolic soccer match and a concert will be held in Monterrey’s Fundidora Park to protest Ternium as one of the city’s most polluting companies. — Eduard Cauich, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2026

Going to space, Bezos said, would even help humans by relocating their most polluting industries off-planet entirely. — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 17 June 2026

Virgin polyester has long been one of fashion’s most polluting materials. — Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 17 June 2026

And while the technology remains at the research stage, the work presents one of the more credible pathways yet proposed for dramatically reducing the environmental footprint of one of humanity’s most essential and most polluting industrial materials. — New Atlas, 26 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for polluting

• commuting
• computing
• diluting
• disputing
• eluting
• imputing
• recruiting
• refuting
• rerouting
• saluting
• transmuting
• uprooting