Synonym Chooser

How does the verb contaminate contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of contaminate are defile, pollute, and taint. While all these words mean "to make impure or unclean," contaminate implies intrusion of or contact with dirt or foulness from an outside source.

water contaminated by industrial wastes

When can defile be used instead of contaminate?

Although the words defile and contaminate have much in common, defile implies befouling of what could or should have been kept clean and pure or held sacred and commonly suggests violation or desecration.

defile a hero's memory with slanderous innuendo

When is pollute a more appropriate choice than contaminate?

The synonyms pollute and contaminate are sometimes interchangeable, but pollute, sometimes interchangeable with contaminate, distinctively may imply that the process which begins with contamination is complete and that what was pure or clean has been made foul, poisoned, or filthy.

the polluted waters of the river

When is it sensible to use taint instead of contaminate?

The words taint and contaminate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, taint stresses the loss of purity or cleanliness that follows contamination.

tainted meat
a politician's tainted reputation

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of contaminate The Chinese restaurant was issued a yellow placard after inspectors found employees contaminating food contact surfaces and using gloves improperly. Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 11 Apr. 2025 If a stylus is contaminated with dry and loose fluff, then the kit’s anti-static stylus cleaning brush should be used. Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025 The butter was contaminated with coliform, a bacteria strain that is usually present in the digestive tracts of humans and animals. Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 10 Apr. 2025 Venezuela’s crude oil is heavily contaminated with sulfur. Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for contaminate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contaminate
Verb
  • Well, the nation’s most polluting coal plant, Montana’s Colstrip plant, has asked the EPA for an exemption, as the New York Times’ Hiroko Tabuchi reports.
    Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Vyse's version is simpler and cheaper—estimated to add only a few cents more to the price of a drink—and avoids polluting gases.
    Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Scores of sea lions and dolphins have been fatally poisoned in recent months by domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by harmful algal blooms.
    Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2025
  • Morgan was previously married to Keith Whitley from 1986 to his alcohol poisoning death in 1989 at age 34.
    Rachel DeSantis, People.com, 17 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Contaminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contaminate. Accessed 2 May. 2025.

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