1
as in taints
to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable
believed that luxury vitiates even the most principled person
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in damages
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
numerous grammatical errors vitiate the effectiveness of your writing
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3
as in degrades
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
a penchant for coarse language vitiates what is otherwise a refined literary style
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vitiates
Verb
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The film centered on the Environmental Protection Agency encasing the Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield in a dome after Homer taints the area’s water supply.—
Ryan Gajewski,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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What damages a human being is sin.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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The progressive disease damages the protective cover around nerves called myelin in your central nervous system, according to the Cleveland Clinic.—
Virginia Chamlee,
PEOPLE,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Since genetic material degrades over time, mapping the genome of animals like these that died thousands of years ago is incredibly difficult.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
14 Jan. 2026
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Venezuela may not be the sole source of cocaine, nor a major conduit for fentanyl, but dismantling a regime that actively protects and profits from transnational criminal networks unquestionably degrades those networks’ capacity to operate.—
Timothy M. Herbst,
Hartford Courant,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Sinners leading all nominees by a record-breaking margin could shake up the Oscar race, which seemed destined to come down to One Battle After Another and Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet (the two films recently shared the Best Picture spoils at the Golden Globes).—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
22 Jan. 2026
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With the victory spoils, Ruel collects A$50,000 ($33,700) courtesy of APRA AMCOS, Alberts and Sony Music Publishing.—
Lars Brandle,
Billboard,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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California law already criminalizes unsafe gun storage in certain situations, including when a child accesses a firearm and injures or kills someone.—
Grant Stringer,
Mercury News,
29 Dec. 2025
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In self-defense, Franck's group injures one of the attackers.—
Emlyn Travis,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Nov. 2025
Verb
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When CEOs treat financial advice as a substitute for judgment, leadership starts to erode, decisions slow down, and conviction weakens.—
Melissa Houston,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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Trump’s focus on the Western Hemisphere — as a show of might that weakens China’s geostrategic influence, Nikkei wrote.—
Manal Albarakati,
semafor.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The picture exudes both grace and vulnerability, and hints at imperfection by way of a disconcerting, coral-like wrinkle that mars the foot’s heel.—
Chris Wiley,
New Yorker,
20 Dec. 2025
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Deadly holiday weekend mars broad crime drop The back-and-forth followed a Labor Day weekend of deadly violence in Chicago worse than in the previous two years, with seven people shot to death, according to preliminary Chicago Police Department reports.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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As Jay Jonah Atterbury, one of a handful of new characters on the fourth season of Industry, Kal Penn weaponizes and corrupts the stoner quirks viewers may recognize from his years playing Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar films.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
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Instead of a warning event, Expeditions imagines the historical fall that corrupts the Earth.—
Nola Taylor Tillman,
Space.com,
21 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Vitiates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vitiates. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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