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

This is where studying microbes that already live in polluted environments gives us an advantage. — Catherine Armbruster, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026 In Wilmington, officials are looking into why a couple of polluted tidal creeks in the area are struggling to recover despite restoration efforts. — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026 But flood control cut off that supply, replacing it with polluted canals. — Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026 Other potential impacts include deforestation, air pollution, noise and polluted water seeping into rivers and lakes, which can poison fish populations and sully drinking water supplies. — ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026 The standard medical terms clinicians rely on may become distorted or polluted. — Frank Naeymi-Rad, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 In 1990 the Missouri attorney general sued Industrial Wrecking for operating after its permit was suspended and allowing polluted water to flow into a drainage ditch. — Jack Harvel august 17, Kansas City Star, 17 Aug. 2026 Turner has pointed out that Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, is among the most polluted places in America, while roughly a quarter of local families experience food insecurity. — Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026 The former sandy beach has been converted into open space with native vegetation and bioswales that soak up stormwater and cut down on polluted runoff. — Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 6 Aug. 2026

Verb

In the northern part of the district, the waterfront is polluted by ships. — Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2026 Our state has thousands of sites already polluted with toxic chemicals and other pollutants, and those projects affect air quality, safe drinking water and community health for millions of Californians. — Shannon Olivieri Hovis, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026 Greenpeace Germany warned that oil has already polluted stretches of coastline and damaged the area's fragile ecosystem. — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026 Stretches of coastline and the area’s sensitive marine ecosystem have been polluted and damaged. — ABC News, 1 Aug. 2026 Both lead to context getting polluted, eroding response quality at scale. — Chhaya Methani, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for polluted

Adjective

Raw chicken juice cross-contaminated onto raw squid when an employee stacked a container of raw chicken on top of the squid container.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Many Coloradans spent the last few months changing their diets, avoiding produce in fear of tainted food, as nearly 20,000 people across the country were sick after a historic cyclospora outbreak that came from contaminated lettuce.

— Jaimie Dodge, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of contaminated

Verb

And so, in many ways, the well of public opinion was already poisoned.

— Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
Colonizers call it voluntary emigration, but there is nothing voluntary about fleeing after your home has been bombed, your fields poisoned, your water cut off and your child buried.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of poisoned

Adjective

If lily pollen or another substance is on a cat’s coat, Wahlen recommends wiping it away or washing the area with diluted dish soap to prevent ingestion during grooming.

— Lauren Paige Richeson, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026
Even if this is so, experts say personalized pricing could lead to a diluted understanding of what one item should cost.

— Audrey McGlinchy, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of diluted

Verb

Grand jury proceedings are kept confidential to allow people to testify freely without worrying about consequences and so that the subjects of an investigation are not unfairly tainted before the jury can decide whether to file charges against them.

— Jeffrey Schweers, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Sep. 2026
The judge also rejected Smart's arguments that the verdict was tainted by media attention and by faulty jury instructions.

— CBS News, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of tainted

Adjective

Finally, the third recruits seaweed to gather minerals that are otherwise too dilute to chase.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 27 July 2026
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

Definition of dilute

Adjective

There were mixed weather reports in the middle of the week, with some predicting rain for Friday night.

— Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026
Targeting a critical processing gap Rare earth separation involves converting mixed material into individual oxides used across advanced manufacturing and other strategic industries.

— Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 19 Sep. 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 22 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of polluted

adjective

verb

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