1
as in dilute
containing foreign or lower-grade substances
the pharmacist was convicted of selling adulterate drugs in order to maximize profits
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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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Recent Examples of adulterate
Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 1 May 2025
Farmers or middlemen also frequently adulterated milk, watering it down to stretch supplies—with impure water likely to introduce further pathogens—or adding toxic substances, like formaldehyde or chalk, meant to conceal spoilage or make milk appear whiter.
— Made By History, Time, 29 Apr. 2025
Acid Red 18 is not allowed, so the product is considered adulterated.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025
Of course, a lot of us have the natural instinct to drink cask strength whiskey neat, as if adding water is needlessly adulterating the spirit, or worse yet, a sign of wimpiness.
—Tony Sachs, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Verb
Ground coffee was often about 80 to 90 percent adulterated in the mid-19th century, says Blum.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 1 May 2025
Farmers or middlemen also frequently adulterated milk, watering it down to stretch supplies—with impure water likely to introduce further pathogens—or adding toxic substances, like formaldehyde or chalk, meant to conceal spoilage or make milk appear whiter.
— Made By History, Time, 29 Apr. 2025
Acid Red 18 is not allowed, so the product is considered adulterated.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025
Of course, a lot of us have the natural instinct to drink cask strength whiskey neat, as if adding water is needlessly adulterating the spirit, or worse yet, a sign of wimpiness.
—Tony Sachs, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adulterate
Adjective
-
For example, Wilson’s team is exploring whether dilute acids speed up weathering.—
Robert F. Service,
Science | AAAS,
3 Sep. 2020
-
The company reported a net loss during the first quarter of $3.9 million, or 11 cents diluted loss per share, compared to a net income of $4.3 million, or 12 cents dilute earnings per share over the same period last year.—
Paul Takahashi,
Houston Chronicle,
5 June 2018
Adjective
-
The supernatural thriller sees a woman return from death as a vindictive spirit to torment her adulterous husband.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
26 June 2025
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But with a twist so big — Sarah being the killer of her adulterous husband Adam’s mistress, Kelly Summers, and the one who set him up for the murder while simultaneously defending him tooth and nail in court — where was Rose to go after that?—
Jennifer Maas,
Variety,
29 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
What To Know The annual $1 billion allocation comes from California's cap-and-invest program, which collects fees from polluting industries.—
Theo Burman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Farmers overapplying them in their fields can cause nitrogen-laden runoff that pollutes water and the air.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Not abstract, delayed or generalized data, but precise, real-time and location-specific insights delivered from the world’s most remote forests, deepest watersheds and most polluted urban corridors.—
Michael De Nil,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Whilst the moon might not be that hard to see in a light-polluted area, capturing it on a smart telescope is still impressive.—
Harry Bennett,
Space.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Need someone to absorb your wife’s anger over that extramarital affair without inconveniencing your mistress?—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Each of them offers money and position but nothing much in the way of pleasure, excitement, intellectual stimulation, or the prospect of anything other than a life of loveless, socially irreproachable tedium possibly brightened by the occasional extramarital affair.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Sep. 2025
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.—
Dylan Tokar,
WSJ,
2 Feb. 2023
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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.—
Nadia Kounang,
CNN,
17 Mar. 2022
Adjective
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Other educators who spoke to the Herald describe parents cutting back on extracurricular activities, avoiding school pick-up and drop-off lines, and even keeping children home to study informally.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
13 Sep. 2025
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Some of this exhaustion can attributed to the transition to the busyness of school days, homework, and extracurricular activities.—
Wendy Wisner,
Parents,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The Cortège often feels like a beautiful but diluted version of experiences that Cirque du Soleil and Burning Man execute with more conviction and coherence.—
David Hochman,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
-
Try using a diluted solution of baking soda and water or dishwasher soap and water.—
Zoe Gowen,
Southern Living,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Adulterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulterate. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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