water down

verb

watered down; watering down; waters down

transitive verb

: to reduce or temper the force or effectiveness of

watered down the plan

watered-down

ˈwȯ-tərd-ˈdau̇n 

ˈwä-

adjective

Synonyms of water down

• dilute
• load
• dirty
• cut
• pollute
• poison
• infect

Examples of water down in a Sentence

watered down the cocktails while jacking up their prices

Recent Examples on the Web

The biggest area of concern about this year’s team is that injuries could water down the squad’s talent base, which has lackluster depth. — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2026

Gilt markets came under pressure last year when Starmer's finance minister Rachel Reeves watered down her initial plans to cut welfare spending last year, following a revolt from backbench MPs. — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026

Industry opposition already watered down one anti-smuggling bill, Bloomberg noted, and Huang recently snubbed a congressional invitation to testify on the problem. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 2 Oct. 2026

Bills similar to several of the ones signed this year failed to pass the Legislature or were watered down last year. — Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for water down

• chinatown
• tumbledown
• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown