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
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
-
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
-
Other public speakers, like Tabitha Fader, said the reroute would cause irreparable harm if wetlands and rivers were polluted during pipeline construction or in the event of a spill.—
Laura Schulte,
jsonline.com,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Industry, transportation, and creating electricity are polluting.—
Suwanna Gauntlett Upjohn,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Another, paradoxical, factor that could be contributing to this rise is our steadily less polluted atmosphere.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
5 Sep. 2025
-
The port planned to use it to clean up and remediate polluted areas, build facilities for handling the turbine parts, dredge the waterway and build a larger wharf capable of handling pieces of steel longer than a football field.—
Lauren Sommer,
NPR,
31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
Some employees choose to keep their relationship secret because such relationships are banned in their organization, others choose secrecy for privacy reasons or because the relationship is extramarital.—
Kim Elsesser,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
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
-
This has affected attendance, participation in extracurricular activities and communication within school communities.—
Alan J. Borsuk,
jsonline.com,
30 Aug. 2025
-
The Saline Area Senior Center is also open, and extracurricular activities are able to continue in the building.—
Jalen Williams,
Freep.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Moisture absorbed from the air returns as diluted desiccant to storage.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Your Way Dry Wash or a diluted shampoo, followed by a blow-dry to prevent mildew.—
Larry Stansbury,
Essence,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Adulterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulterate. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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