POLLUTED Synonyms: 92 Similar and Opposite Words

polluted 1 of 2

adjective

as in contaminated

containing foreign or lower-grade substances called in to clean up the polluted stream

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polluted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of pollute

as in poisoned

to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable outmoded factories polluting the air

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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 polluted

Adjective

The germ theory of disease was a huge step forward, helping doctors understand that polluted water sources spread disease, and then helping to develop antibiotics. — Bill Conerly, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026 By late Thursday afternoon, Chicago had overtaken Detroit, Minneapolis and Toronto as the most polluted major city in the world, according to Swiss air quality company IQAir. — Finnegan Belleau, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2026 Proliferation of automobiles and coal as an energy source combined with an absence of meaningful emission standards caused dangerously polluted air. — Rebecca Florsheim, STAT, 17 July 2026 The polluted air will last through at least Saturday in some areas as new waves of smoke waft south. — Brandon Miller, CNN Money, 17 July 2026 The Environmental Protection Agency uses a measure called the Air Quality Index to assess how polluted the air is. — Ashley Mowreader, NBC news, 17 July 2026 If one neighborhood is highly polluted but nearby communities aren’t, county-level averages would show an overall low level of pollution – even though the more detailed information would reveal a major problem to be addressed in one particular area. — Mark Axelrod, The Conversation, 30 June 2026 Mayflies lay up to 10,000 eggs in the water, and their nymphs can't survive in water that is polluted. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 29 June 2026 Her inner light reminds him of the stars he’s seen with his own eyes, above the polluted atmosphere of Earth. — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 27 June 2026

Verb

The same river that was savagely polluted by the mining industry, devastating the ancestral oasis of Quillagua. — Cristina Dorador, The Dial, 14 July 2026 But stars aren’t the only things that fail to show up when the sky is polluted with light; fireflies, those flashing, nostalgic symbols of summer, often skip the party too. — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 1 July 2026 Midland, Texas, is still cleaning up groundwater polluted by a leaking injection well more than two decades ago. — Nick Bowlin, ProPublica, 30 June 2026 As a result, many people living near Mavecure have gotten out of gold mining, which polluted the jungle rivers with mercury and sediment, to work as tour guides, operate restaurants and hostels, or sell arts and crafts. — John Otis, NPR, 30 May 2026 At the latter, four local farmers show The Athletic water courses polluted with crude oil. — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 27 May 2026 Supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party also took the discourse offline this week, dressing up as the insect to clean up India’s notoriously polluted Yamuna River in Delhi, according to news reports. — Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 22 May 2026 Testing by the University of Georgia that alerted the industry and state in 2008, when Bost was in her teens, showed the local Conasauga River that supplies the region’s drinking water was polluted. — Dylan Jackson, ABC News, 6 May 2026 That is exactly what this film cleverly does — pinpoints the insidious nature of far-right movements and the creeping rhetoric that has polluted our society. — Alex Ritman, Variety, 30 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for polluted

Adjective

Beyond the contaminated water, Detwiler says, they're linked to frequent illness outbreaks and can be notoriously difficult to trace back to their source.

— Angela Haupt, Time, 23 July 2026
In Michigan alone, more than 7,000 have fallen ill with the nasty foodborne disease, which causes severe diarrhea, and comes from exposure to a parasite in contaminated water used to wash or irrigate crops.

— Amy Feldman, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026

Definition of contaminated

Verb

Attackers are also targeting AI solutions themselves with prompt injection attacks, poisoned datasets and other increasingly advanced tactics.

— Peter Garraghan, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Later, when Saeng-gang and her mother leave the palace to hide Saeng-gang’s spirit-hearing abilities, the mother is poisoned by treats sent from the palace.

— Kayti Burt, Time, 17 July 2026

Definition of poisoned

Adjective

Both cooking and cleaning vinegars contain a diluted solution of acetic acid that is safe for use at home.

— Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 23 July 2026
To help mitigate both pests and diseases, isolate the plant and treat infestations with safe, diluted systemic insecticides, such as organic neem oil.

— SJ McShane, Martha Stewart, 14 July 2026

Definition of diluted

Verb

More than two dozen California Democrats are confronting the FCC over its rare early review of Disney’s ABC station licenses, calling the process ideologically tainted and aimed at punishing critical media coverage.

— Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 22 July 2026
Why must everything be tainted by the overinflated ego of Cankles Muldoon?

— Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 21 July 2026

Definition of tainted

Adjective

Clean and disinfect your pruning shears between working on each plant by dipping them into a dilute 10% solution of chlorine bleach water or rubbing alcohol.

— Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 4 July 2026
But dwarf galaxies are smaller and colder, with more dilute and slower-moving matter.

— Paul M. Sutter, Scientific American, 6 May 2026

Definition of dilute

Adjective

Sarah Dempster, an architect for Populous, said other baseball stadium projects in Atlanta, Chicago and Denver have successfully created walkable mixed-use districts around stadiums that are unique to their cities.

— Dylan Lysen, Kansas City Star, 28 July 2026
As examples of the mismanagement, Yiannas noted the outbreak’s extreme size—already well over double the typical number of cases seen in recent years—as well as mixed messaging and confusion among consumers.

— Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 27 July 2026

Definition of mixed

Adjective

Wise’s wistful songwriting is retained, but completely missing is his intentionally impure palette.

— Billie Bugara, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2026
Kanto practitioners believe that women cannot participate because, according to Japan's Shinto religion, women's blood from menstruation and childbirth is considered impure for the purpose of religious rituals.

— Anthony Kuhn, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025

Definition of impure

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“Polluted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polluted. Accessed 28 Jul. 2026.

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adjective

verb

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