as in diluting
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 watering down
Proxies and acolytes are deployed to the networks to underscore the strength of the president’s stance while subtly watering down threats and reassuring investors.
—
Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 13 Oct. 2025
Stop watering down your message to avoid offending anyone.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 13 Oct. 2025
Stop watering down your message to avoid offending anyone.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for watering down
Verb
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The Olympics’ ability to spread itself out without diluting its iconic character will be worth following all February long.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
6 Jan. 2026
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The smell will fade overtime as the blinds begin to dry, but diluting vinegar with water helps minimize the potency of the scent.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
2 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The container is insulated and protected from weather and palletized for easy transport using a forklift for loading onto vehicles or aircraft.—
Gidget Fuentes,
USA Today,
5 Jan. 2026
-
There might also be loading instructions in the machine’s manual.—
Nafeesah Allen,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The president argued that inflation was already low enough to start cutting rates.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
12 Jan. 2026
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Trump has repeatedly blasted Powell for the Fed not cutting interest rates as much and as quickly as the president has demanded since entering the White House in January 2025.—
Dan Mangan,
CNBC,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Chemical rockets put out huge plumes of polluting exhaust, and for a massive machine like the SpaceX Starship, with 33 first-stage engines, that can add up—especially with hundreds of launches planned.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
7 Jan. 2026
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The evidence is overwhelming and very difficult for high-polluting foreign governments to credibly challenge.—
Chip Lamarca,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Research shows that caffeine increases the concentration of blood-thinning medication in the bloodstream, enhancing its effects.—
Carrie Madormo,
Verywell Health,
7 Jan. 2026
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Boost Flavor in a Flash Tomato paste adds instant richness without thinning the dish.—
Anne Wolf,
Martha Stewart,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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It's revealed that this beauty drug is infecting people with a virus that leads to death, luring in an investigation by FBI Agents Cooper Madsen, played by Evan Peters, and Jordan Bennett, played by Rebecca Hall.—
Yamillah Hurtado,
PEOPLE,
5 Jan. 2026
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Set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, the Larian Studios RPG follows a party that seeks to cure themselves of a parasitic tadpole infecting their brains.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Alice is paranoid, thinking her roommate is rearranging her shower supplies and that someone might be poisoning her food.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
11 Jan. 2026
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In one case, in the year before Makandal’s death, a servant in Saint-Domingue named Médor was arrested for poisoning his enslaver to obtain his freedom.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Watering down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watering%20down. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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