as in adulterated
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as in diluted
to alter (something) for the worse with the addition of foreign or lower-grade substances
watered down the cocktails while jacking up their prices
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Recent Examples of watered-down
Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 1 Oct. 2025
Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2026
But, faced with intense backlash from cities and law enforcement agencies, the legislator watered down her bill.
—Calmatters, Mercury News, 29 Dec. 2025
Kennedy made a panoply of promises but, so far, has watered down or failed to achieved most of them.
—Isabella Cueto, STAT, 29 Dec. 2025
The measure has since been watered down and now requires children between the ages of 8 to 16, starting in 2027, to pass a five-step test to be considered properly restrained by a seat belt.
—Calmatters, Oc Register, 16 Oct. 2025
This is proof that a novel doesn’t need to be watered down in its style or ideas in order to hold a reader’s attention.
—Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2025
Critics of 243 argued it was watered down significantly after industry input.
—Kate Wolffe
october 13, Sacbee.com, 13 Oct. 2025
That appeared to work out once again with his threats to China over rare earth exports later watered down online, Woods said.
—Alex Harring,sarah Min, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2025
Swift simply refuses to pass this baton, and her kung fu grip on pop’s crown handicapped this record and watered down her best qualities.
—Bianca Davino, Refinery29, 7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
In the decades since, silencing of even that watered-down (if in some ways more accurate) term has been linked to fossil fuel companies suppressing science to boost profits.
—Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
On Tuesday, Fire Chief Jaime Moore acknowledged that the report had been watered down to soften criticism of the LAFD’s leadership.
—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2026
But, faced with intense backlash from cities and law enforcement agencies, the legislator watered down her bill.
—Calmatters, Mercury News, 29 Dec. 2025
Kennedy made a panoply of promises but, so far, has watered down or failed to achieved most of them.
—Isabella Cueto, STAT, 29 Dec. 2025
The measure has since been watered down and now requires children between the ages of 8 to 16, starting in 2027, to pass a five-step test to be considered properly restrained by a seat belt.
—Calmatters, Oc Register, 16 Oct. 2025
This is proof that a novel doesn’t need to be watered down in its style or ideas in order to hold a reader’s attention.
—Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2025
Critics of 243 argued it was watered down significantly after industry input.
—Kate Wolffe
october 13, Sacbee.com, 13 Oct. 2025
That appeared to work out once again with his threats to China over rare earth exports later watered down online, Woods said.
—Alex Harring,sarah Min, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2025
Swift simply refuses to pass this baton, and her kung fu grip on pop’s crown handicapped this record and watered down her best qualities.
—Bianca Davino, Refinery29, 7 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for watered-down
Adjective
-
The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to distributing adulterated ice-cream products and agreed to pay a fine over the outbreak.—
Dylan Tokar,
WSJ,
2 Feb. 2023
-
And while most of those overdoses involved the illicit synthetic opioid fentanyl, experts say that an adulterated and contaminated drug supply is also leading to deaths.—
Nadia Kounang,
CNN,
17 Mar. 2022
Verb
-
How To Use Apple Cider Vinegar To Clean Apple cider vinegar, sometimes referred to as ACV, should always be diluted for cleaning purposes.—
Kait Hanson,
Southern Living,
11 Jan. 2026
-
Those sums would likely be diluted, given baseball teams carry 26 players and NBA teams carry up to 15, but money is still money.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Load Plastics on Top KitchenAid reminds us that plastic containers should be loaded on the top rack, especially if your dishwasher has a heating element (and most do).—
Patricia Shannon,
Southern Living,
13 Jan. 2026
-
Once the items are picked and packed in a small cardboard basket, they are loaded onto a drone inside a fenced area in the Walmart parking lot.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The World Health Organization estimates that 90% of infants infected within the first year will go on to develop a chronic infection and up to 25% of them will die of liver cancer or liver failure caused by the infection.—
Rafael Perez,
Oc Register,
22 Jan. 2026
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Less than two weeks after the vote, a document emerged detailing that the CDC would fund a study to look into the hepatitis B vaccine in Guinea-Bissau, where nearly one in five adults are infected with hepatitis B virus.—
Gabrielle Emanuel,
NPR,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
San Marcos got the lead back to six before Mission Hills again cut it to one with 20 seconds to go.—
John Maffei,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Jan. 2026
-
The European Union has mandated that about 80% of new car sales in 2030 should be electric and 100% (since provisionally cut to 90%) in 2035.—
Neil Winton,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Watered-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watered-down. Accessed 24 Jan. 2026.
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