polluted 1 of 2

polluted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of pollute

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
Kevin, now 67, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s about two and a half years ago and attributes his diagnosis to his polluted three-month post in the Persian Gulf. Wuft News, Miami Herald, 29 July 2026 Until now, businesses have not had to reduce the polluted water that flows into drains, and the costs of cleanup efforts have fallen to cities and counties, said Sean Bothwell, executive director of California Coastkeeper Alliance. Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026 Tens of thousands of Muscovites will find their deliveries canceled and the atmosphere heavily polluted. David Hambling, Forbes.com, 23 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
Verb
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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for polluted
Adjective
  • Health authorities later traced the outbreak to contaminated lettuce supplied to the fast-food restaurant by Taylor Farms de Mexico.
    James Cirrone, FOXNews.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Massachusetts has seen more than 100 cyclospora cases this summer, the state Department of Public Health said Wednesday, with some illnesses apparently linked to contaminated lettuce.
    Neal Riley, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • One of the children suffered fatal sharp-force injuries, while investigators believe the other three children were poisoned.
    Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Kenya has previously recorded incidents of elephants being poisoned as a result of poaching and human-wildlife conflict.
    CBS News, CBS News, 29 July 2026
Adjective
  • Prevent overfertilization by testing soil, using organic or diluted fertilizers, and fertilizing only during the growing season.
    Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Just prior to deploying the cyborg roach, the team injected a bit of diluted hydrogen peroxide into the tank and sealed it to prevent leakage.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 3 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The political violence that tainted the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era clashes with traditional definitions of terrorism, which typically targets a power structure that such violence seeks to upend.
    Jacob Ware, The Conversation, 31 July 2026
  • 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
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
Adjective
  • Navarro, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy in August, was sentenced Friday in Manhattan by federal Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil for being part of a conspiracy to distribute and administer adulterated and misbranded drugs for racehorses.
    Stephen Edelson, The Courier-Journal, 18 Dec. 2021
Adjective
  • Cardinal Health – The drug and medical equipment distributor moved nearly 2% higher following its mixed fiscal fourth-quarter results .
    Fred Imbert, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Instead, the work provides evidence for a mechanism that could eventually help engineers make CO₂ electrolyzers more selective, potentially reducing the costs associated with unwanted hydrogen and mixed products.
    Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 10 Aug. 2026
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

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Cite this Entry

“Polluted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polluted. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

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