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

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

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

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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 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
  • Alongside Stonestreet’s return, Ritter is also back in the Dexter universe, but the cast and crew were more careful about not spoiling how.
    — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Without spoiling the plot, there’s a dispiriting note at the end of the film as text on-screen informs us that some very high percentage of Americans get their news from Facebook to this day.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 8 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
  • Monday's attack came a day after a Russian drone struck the village of Pisochyn in the Kharkiv district, killing three people and injuring nine others, including children, according to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The attack on Saturday was deadlier, with strikes killing 12 people and injuring over 300 others.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of injuring

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vitiates
vitiating
vitreous
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Cite this Entry

“Vitiating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vitiating. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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