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
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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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of adulterate
Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Regulation made highly pure spirits a sustainable reality: whiskey often sold straight from the barrel was adulterated by unscrupulous merchants with cheap spirits or toxic substances.
—Jahan Marcu, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated.
—Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 3 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated (discarded).
—Gege Reed, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Verb
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
Regulation made highly pure spirits a sustainable reality: whiskey often sold straight from the barrel was adulterated by unscrupulous merchants with cheap spirits or toxic substances.
—Jahan Marcu, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated.
—Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 3 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated (discarded).
—Gege Reed, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adulterate
Adjective
-
Second, a dilute hydrochloric acid is used to dissolve the remaining lithium and the transition metals—nickel, cobalt, and manganese.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Oct. 2025
-
For example, Wilson’s team is exploring whether dilute acids speed up weathering.—
Robert F. Service,
Science | AAAS,
3 Sep. 2020
Adjective
-
But the gamesmanship, foreshadowing the adulterous antics of Harold Pinter’s plays, escalates perilously.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
-
The unapologetically lurid tale of two families locked in an ever-complex cat’s cradle of class resentments and adulterous power plays also swarms with queen bees and jaw-droppingly muscular men that feel straight out of the Real Housewives playbook.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Her absence haunts the episode, which is built around a protest against the building of a mine that could further pollute the land.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Mar. 2026
-
The settlement continues Oklahoma’s progress in holding poultry companies accountable for polluting the Illinois River Watershed, Drummond said.—
Barbara Hoberock,
Oklahoman,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Their waterways are polluted and undrinkable, yet citizens still wash their clothes and utensils in them.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
25 Feb. 2026
-
The neighborhoods closest to the data center are already some of the most polluted in Denver, the organizers noted.—
Elise Schmelzer,
Denver Post,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The latest tranche of Epstein documents is shedding new light on the relationship between Gates and the infamous financier, as well as the former’s extramarital affairs.—
Joe Wilkins,
Futurism,
26 Feb. 2026
-
By 1986, Diana and Charles began having extramarital affairs.—
Bailey Bujnosek,
InStyle,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
Later on, the stay-at-home parent might start to be in charge of bigger picture tasks like taking kids to extracurricular activities, touring college campuses, and planning birthday parties.—
Jana Pollack,
Parents,
27 Feb. 2026
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This requires thoughtful planning around transportation services and extracurricular activities.—
Alec Johnson,
jsonline.com,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Clean the feeders with hot water, a hummingbird feeder brush, and a diluted vinegar solution (one part vinegar, two parts water).—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
23 Feb. 2026
-
On a diluted basis, earnings came in at 16 cents a share, down from 33 cents in the year-earlier quarter.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
18 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Adulterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulterate. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
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