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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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
-
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
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As with the true story of the adulterous writers, there’s something at the center of The Disappear that feels cringily solipsistic.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Others live and work near polluting freeways.—
Dorany Pineda,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Trump blamed Democrats, including Moore, for the spill that has polluted the river that cuts through Washington, DC.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Weather officials urge people to limit their outdoor activity as much as possible, especially those with existing health issues, to avoid breathing in the polluted air.—
Sarah Moore,
Freep.com,
16 Feb. 2026
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Caleb Roberts, the director of Downwinders at Risk, said once again, the most vulnerable and polluted communities are left behind.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
He was caught using a crude slur for Jews, and carrying on an extramarital affair that produced an out-of-wedlock child.—
Mark Whitaker,
CBS News,
22 Feb. 2026
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The latest Epstein documents include a series of emails that Epstein sent to himself in 2013, appearing to suggest that Gates was having an extramarital affair and seeking illicit drugs.—
David Ingram,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
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
-
Gracynn displays professional and academic dedication in the classroom and extracurricular pursuits, instructor Jason Logan said.—
Andy Humbles,
Nashville Tennessean,
20 Feb. 2026
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Some Christians take on a somber attitude and maintain a quiet atmosphere in their homes with little to no entertainment or extracurricular activities, while others may play music and bake hot cross buns, a traditional Good Friday sweet.—
Marina Johnson,
IndyStar,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
Very diluted bleach can be used to disinfect surfaces where food with potentially harmful bacteria, like raw chicken, was prepared, but Dunivin recommends using other food-contact sanitizers instead.—
Jamie Friedlander Serrano,
Time,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Adulterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulterate. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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