vitiating

verb

present participle of vitiate
1
as in tainting
to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable believed that luxury vitiates even the most principled person

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of numerous grammatical errors vitiate the effectiveness of your writing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in degrading
to lower in character, dignity, or quality a penchant for coarse language vitiates what is otherwise a refined literary style

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 vitiating In the three years since, the Court has delivered even more wins for the movement—rulings undercutting the rights of trans people and immigrants, vitiating the Voting Rights Act, and expanding Presidential power. — Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vitiating
  1. tainting
  2. damaging
  3. degrading
  4. spoiling
  5. marring
  6. corrupting
  7. poisoning
  8. injuring
Verb
  • Several homeowners near Meta’s massive Newton County data center have filed a lawsuit accusing the tech company and others of tainting their water and destroying their rural way of life.
    — Zachary Hansen, AJC.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • For all intents and purposes, an unknown actor can wade unburdened into the depths of Bond, able to transform without a viewer’s prior expectation tainting the image of 007.
    — Emily Maskell, IndieWire, 10 July 2026
Definition of tainting
Verb
  • The 2025 decision came after the group claimed responsibility for breaking into a major air base, RAF Brize Norton, northwest of London, and damaging aircraft.
    — Inaya Folarin Iman, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In October 2025, Baja California’s prosecutor said a drone dropped homemade explosive devices at an anti-kidnapping prosecutor’s office in Tijuana, damaging four vehicles but causing no injuries.
    — Armando Regil Velasco, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of damaging
Verb
  • Experts told the Herald that the use of such cages as punishment could violate international laws against torture and degrading treatment.
    — Claire Healy, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Local farms face ever degrading soil conditions, tougher markets and more extreme weather patterns.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of degrading
Verb
  • In Season Two, the couple dealt with making the relationship work, which culminates in tensions between the pair — and without totally spoiling it, suffice to say that does not end so well.
    — Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The Dodgers left-hander had just given up the lead on Bauers’ two-run homer, spoiling what had been a stellar start Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of spoiling
Verb
  • The Trib is withholding Nick’s full name to avoid marring his reputation in the eyes of future employers or others who might run a search on him.
    — Kate Payne, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The latter track takes overt inspiration from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette, as Jepsen beckons her love to engage in life’s vices with her, like marring bedsheets with fruit stains and dashing nude through the garden.
    — Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of marring
Verb
  • Documentarian Alex Gibney is no stranger to dissections of corrupting power — from his feature dives into Enron, Elizabeth Holmes and Scientology.
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Delphi sits above a geologic vent, an X from which noxious gases escaped the earth, corrupting the minds of women who inhaled and pronounced their prophecies.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of corrupting
Verb
  • James Folta considers how generative AI is poisoning the literary well for everyone.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The government was the one that was poisoning the industrial alcohol the people were stealing to make bathtub gin.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of poisoning
Verb
  • Strus also will be out for a while after injuring his right foot during training camp.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • This is where Krasner and Pollock lived for nearly 11 years, until Pollock killed himself and one of his passengers, Edith Metzger, while driving drunk, injuring his girlfriend, Ruth Kligman, too.
    — John Yau, ARTnews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of injuring

Browse Nearby Words

vitiates
vitiating
vitreous
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Vitiating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vitiating. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All