as in polluted
containing foreign or lower-grade substances
the hospitals had no choice but to throw out the contaminated blood supply
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in poisoned
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable
a supply of drinking water that was contaminated by a toxic waste dump
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of contaminated
Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 July 2025
Previous work had shown that bacteria from contaminated soils can bind to PFAS.
—Nora Bradford, Scientific American, 4 July 2025
Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2025
This lid defect could allow the beverage to become contaminated with bacteria.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for contaminated
Adjective
In the past couple of years, the volume of sewage flows, laced with contaminated stormwater, noxious chemicals and trash, has been the highest in the last quarter-century, worsening conditions for those living and working nearby.
—Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 July 2025
Previous work had shown that bacteria from contaminated soils can bind to PFAS.
—Nora Bradford, Scientific American, 4 July 2025
Verb
Indeed, since the virus was first reported in dairy cows in March 2024, one of the sentinel signs that a farm has been infected is the presence of dead barn cats that drank contaminated raw milk.
—Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2025
This lid defect could allow the beverage to become contaminated with bacteria.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for contaminated
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contaminated
Verb
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That number includes children, who represent 16 percent of those poisoned and 27 percent of all fatalities.—
Stacey Leasca,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Apr. 2025
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And guess what, hospitals are seeing cases of vitamin A toxicity — of kids poisoned by being fed too many vitamins instead of being vaccinated.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That said, the airline booked a gain on investment of $735 million as a non-operating income which resulted in net income of $2.1 billion or $3.27 per diluted share.—
Ankita Dhawan,
Forbes.com,
12 July 2025
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Adjusted earnings rose 39 percent to $89 million, or 22 cents a diluted share.—
Evan Clark,
Footwear News,
10 July 2025
Adjective
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Vinegar, which is really dilute acetic acid, will help the milk curdle by further denaturing the whey proteins and neutralizing negative charges at the surface of casein micelles.—
Liz Roth-Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
12 Feb. 2013
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However toxic a substance may be, the amount of exposure received by the general population is very dilute.—
George Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
8 July 2013
Adjective
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If access control slips, an engineer gets a tainted result, risking a leak.—
Suman Sharma,
Forbes.com,
7 July 2025
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Most people get fever, vomiting, stomachaches and diarrhea after eating tainted food, symptoms that can run for four to seven days.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Contaminated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contaminated. Accessed 25 Jul. 2025.
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