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
Sohaib Imtiaz, Verywell Health, 15 Dec. 2025
Fruits, leafy greens and other produce can become adulterated with listeria through fecal contamination, which can occur through wastewater, water in the growing area, fertilizer and the proximity of said growing area to livestock, USA TODAY previously reported.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
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
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated.
—Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Verb
Some olive oils are adulterated, meaning that other substances may be added to them to lower their quality—and often manufacturing costs—while increasing the amount in the bottle.
—Sohaib Imtiaz, Verywell Health, 15 Dec. 2025
Fruits, leafy greens and other produce can become adulterated with listeria through fecal contamination, which can occur through wastewater, water in the growing area, fertilizer and the proximity of said growing area to livestock, USA TODAY previously reported.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
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
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated.
—Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adulterate
Adjective
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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
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For example, Wilson’s team is exploring whether dilute acids speed up weathering.—
Robert F. Service,
Science | AAAS,
3 Sep. 2020
Adjective
-
Fiction is inherently adulterous.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Apr. 2026
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But the gamesmanship, foreshadowing the adulterous antics of Harold Pinter’s plays, escalates perilously.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Water sources are often polluted through run-off from lawns that contain herbicides.—
David Beaulieu,
The Spruce,
28 Apr. 2026
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As of last April, the state environmental agency was also lagging behind on inspections of polluting facilities, according to the audit.—
Christine Condon,
Baltimore Sun,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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But many of the communities where those minerals are mined end up with polluted water and poorer health because of the mining.—
Abraham Nunbogu,
Fortune,
29 Apr. 2026
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As Mexico City has expanded over time, the Xochimilco lake system has gradually shrunk and become more polluted in certain areas, which has led to a steep decline in their population.—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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As for the extramarital affair between Moore and Shiver, the school first received a tip last summer, which led to the school opening its own investigation into the case.—
Trey Wallace OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
1 May 2026
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Gonzales resigned shortly after, denying wrongdoing after the San Antonio Express-News revealed his extramarital relationship with a staffer who died by suicide in 2025.—
Joseph Konig,
PEOPLE,
22 Apr. 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
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Eshan volunteers at Casa several days each week, sharing his enthusiasm for biology and chemistry with Casa students, while serving as a role model through his academic dedication and extracurricular leadership, the news release stated.—
Ut Community Press,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
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The school was forced to arrange competitions with schools out of state just to make sure their extracurricular programs could continue.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Net income is $807 million, or 43 cents per diluted share.—
Glenn Taylor,
Footwear News,
24 Apr. 2026
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The device pulls in a lot of air to capture the very diluted CO2.—
Molly McCrea,
CBS News,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Adulterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulterate. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
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