as in polluted
containing foreign or lower-grade substances
the hospitals had no choice but to throw out the contaminated blood supply
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in poisoned
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable
a supply of drinking water that was contaminated by a toxic waste dump
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of contaminated
Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 23 Apr. 2025
As federal funding ground to a halt in recent months, projects ranging from removing lead paint and pipes to cleaning up contaminated land and monitoring pollution were jeopardized.
—Michael Copley, NPR, 23 Apr. 2025
Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2025
This lid defect could allow the beverage to become contaminated with bacteria.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for contaminated
Adjective
The contaminated water is the result of insufficient treatment in Mexico and ends up in California via ocean plumes and the Tijuana River Watershed.
—Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 23 Apr. 2025
As federal funding ground to a halt in recent months, projects ranging from removing lead paint and pipes to cleaning up contaminated land and monitoring pollution were jeopardized.
—Michael Copley, NPR, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
Indeed, since the virus was first reported in dairy cows in March 2024, one of the sentinel signs that a farm has been infected is the presence of dead barn cats that drank contaminated raw milk.
—Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2025
This lid defect could allow the beverage to become contaminated with bacteria.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for contaminated
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contaminated
Verb
-
That number includes children, who represent 16 percent of those poisoned and 27 percent of all fatalities.—
Stacey Leasca,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Apr. 2025
-
And guess what, hospitals are seeing cases of vitamin A toxicity — of kids poisoned by being fed too many vitamins instead of being vaccinated.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
For the year, Vince had a net loss of $19 million, or $1.51 per share, compared to net income of $25.4 million, or $2.04 per diluted share, in the same period last year.—
David Moin,
Footwear News,
2 May 2025
-
Online, these ideas have become diluted and deformed, dumbed-down to images of tradwife blondes and futuristic triangle structures.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Vinegar, which is really dilute acetic acid, will help the milk curdle by further denaturing the whey proteins and neutralizing negative charges at the surface of casein micelles.—
Liz Roth-Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
12 Feb. 2013
-
However toxic a substance may be, the amount of exposure received by the general population is very dilute.—
George Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
8 July 2013
Adjective
-
In the street in front of his house, Cooper — the homeowner with the tainted water — met Wilson studying a flare through her camera.—
Saul Elbein,
The Hill,
17 Mar. 2025
-
The man widely called the true winner of Venezuela’s tainted presidential election said on Tuesday that his son-in-law had been kidnapped by hooded men in Caracas, the capital.—
Genevieve Glatsky,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Contaminated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contaminated. Accessed 13 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share