Synonyms of polluted

polluted 1 of 2

adjective

as in contaminated

containing foreign or lower-grade substances

called in to clean up the polluted stream

Synonyms & Similar Words

• contaminated
• thinned
• diluted
• dilute
• tainted
• adulterated
• mixed
• impure
• alloyed
• blended
• weakened
• soiled
• combined
• corrupted
• spoiled
• unfiltered
• debased
• dirtied
• fouled
• defiled
• compounded
• adulterate
• begrimed
• befouled
• incorporated
• mingled
• sullied
• unclarified
• commingled
• intermingled
• merged
• intermixed
• unrefined
• besmirched
• maculate
• bemired
• coalesced
• cheapened
• doctored

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unpolluted
• pure
• uncontaminated
• untainted
• fine
• undiluted
• unadulterated
• unmixed
• uncut
• purified
• refined
• unalloyed
• filtered
• plain
• concentrated
• straight
• neat
• strong
• ultrapure
• sterile
• clean
• uncombined
• ultrarefined
• clarified
• pasteurized
• sterilized
• spotless
• stainless
• immaculate
• unsullied
• unsoiled

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• poisoned
• contaminated
• tainted
• infected
• defiled
• befouled
• stained
• fouled
• soiled
• diluted
• sullied
• blackened
• smudged
• dirtied
• muddied
• corrupted
• adulterated
• mired
• rotted
• besmirched
• spoiled
• begrimed
• grimed
• watered down
• smirched
• fouled up
• doctored

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• purified
• cleaned
• distilled
• cleared
• cleansed
• purged
• filtered
• decontaminated
• clarified
• sterilized
• disinfected
• sanitized

Example Sentences

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

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

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