1
as in dilute
containing foreign or lower-grade substances
the pharmacist was convicted of selling adulterate drugs in order to maximize profits
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in adulterous
relating to or being a sexual encounter or relationship between a married person and someone other than their spouse
caught red-handed in what he claimed was his first adulterate encounter
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to dilute
to alter (something) for the worse with the addition of foreign or lower-grade substances
the company was fined for adulterating its "all beef" frankfurters with cereal
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of adulterate
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
17 Jan. 2026
Fruits, leafy greens and other produce can become adulterated with listeria through fecal contamination, which can occur through wastewater, water in the growing area, fertilizer and the proximity of said growing area to livestock, USA TODAY previously reported.
—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez was dead against the idea, with his club arguing that breaking the traditional home and away format adulterated the competition, while also expressing concern over participating teams gaining a financial advantage.
—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated.
—
Gege Reed,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Verb
This comes after Martin pled guilty to willfully poisoning or adulterating food, water or medicine, which is a felony offense in Nevada.
—
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
17 Jan. 2026
Fruits, leafy greens and other produce can become adulterated with listeria through fecal contamination, which can occur through wastewater, water in the growing area, fertilizer and the proximity of said growing area to livestock, USA TODAY previously reported.
—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez was dead against the idea, with his club arguing that breaking the traditional home and away format adulterated the competition, while also expressing concern over participating teams gaining a financial advantage.
—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated.
—
Gege Reed,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adulterate
Adjective
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But dwarf galaxies are smaller and colder, with more dilute and slower-moving matter.
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Second, a dilute hydrochloric acid is used to dissolve the remaining lithium and the transition metals—nickel, cobalt, and manganese.
Adjective
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Fiction is inherently adulterous.
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But the gamesmanship, foreshadowing the adulterous antics of Harold Pinter’s plays, escalates perilously.
Verb
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The solution is to support federal and state legislation that encourages lower-cost, less-polluting renewable energy to speed up the transition away from environmentally damaging fossil fuels.
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Plastics degrade into microplastics, which in humans have been linked to cancer, reproductive problems, and other health issues, and which are polluting ecosystems from coral reefs to Antarctica.
Adjective
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Even then, after days of heavy rain, polluted lagoon water lapped at the edges of the city.
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There, Marlon must cross the polluted waters of the festering Guanabara Bay in search of a former commander turned messianic cult leader to stop the spread of their paramilitary group.
Adjective
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Sees another email that says that the person who's going to shut it down is having extramarital affair.
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Gates acknowledged having two extramarital affairs that Epstein later learned about.
Adjective
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The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to distributing adulterated ice-cream products and agreed to pay a fine over the outbreak.
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And while most of those overdoses involved the illicit synthetic opioid fentanyl, experts say that an adulterated and contaminated drug supply is also leading to deaths.
Adjective
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Avelar is a part of an extracurricular program run by America SCORES Bay Area, a nonprofit that allows students to learn and play the sport of soccer, as well as honing some of their academic skills through poetry.
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Admissions officers conduct a holistic review, expecting a student's major choice to be a cohesive continuation of their academic and extracurricular story, supported by their transcript and essays.
Adjective
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By contrast, brewing coffee takes several minutes, resulting in a lighter, more diluted drink.
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Then, water your plants as usual with the diluted banana water, or use it as a foliar spray on plant leaves.
Cite this Entry
“Adulterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulterate. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
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