WATERING DOWN Synonyms: 67 Similar and Opposite Words

watering down

verb

present participle of water down

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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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 watering down But Reeves and Starmer faced criticism for some of their fiscal policies, such as increasing National Insurance — a kind of tax on employment — for businesses, and watering down welfare reforms to appease backbench lawmakers. — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 21 July 2026 Asking for sportsbook revenue while simultaneously watering down the product and coddling rule-breakers with minor-league rehab is a terrible look. — Geoff Clark Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 June 2026 These rules have already been subject to watering down proposals. — Neil Winton, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026 But the most basic reforms seem to require years of discussion and back-and-forth and watering down. — David Frum, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026 Dress the salad right before serving to prevent the melon and cucumbers from watering down the vinaigrette. — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 23 May 2026 But watering down safe Republican seats in a tough year for the incumbent party, could backfire, some have predicted. — Alexandra Glorioso, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2026 Name, image and likeness money is pulling guys with borderline first-round grades back to school, which is watering down the top of each class. — Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026 Trump blinked, pausing and watering down many of those tariffs in response to extreme market pressure. — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 2 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for watering down

Verb

At the same time, some critics worried that the Obama-era guidance had gone too far, tasking college bureaucrats with investigating criminal allegations and diluting due process.

— Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
Figures won election two years ago after a federal court ruled that Alabama had been illegally diluting the voting power of Black Alabamians and ordered new district lines.

— Kim Chandler, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of diluting

Verb

While the men were still loading their haul, bullets started flying.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Oct. 2026
As Veach recalled it, that began with venturing back into the Eagles’ library with a basket and loading it up with VHS tapes.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of loading

Verb

This change is apparent in the fact that European governments, too, are cutting funding for religious freedom advocacy.

— Matthew Schmitz, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026
In a sign of growing staff unrest over the steady stream of cost-cutting announcements across the BBC, some workers made their feelings known on a Microsoft Teams call earlier this week.

— Jake Kanter, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of cutting

Verb

This means the development of new clean energy sources will provide greater financial benefits to families rather than polluting, expensive, and outdated sources of energy like oil and gas.

— Sanya Carley, Time, 7 Oct. 2026
Many off-grid communities have long relied on costly, polluting diesel generators.

— ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of polluting

Verb

The role required Cruise to transform with prosthetics (including a fat suit and thinning white hair) and a put-on Southern accent, but, mostly, the absurdist satire demanded his full acting range.

— Angelique Jackson, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
Red light therapy has moved out of the clinic and into home routines, showing up in masks, panels and handheld wands aimed at everything from crow’s feet to thinning hair.

— Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of thinning

Verb

Wardle found that a simple variation of ClickFix attack—a technique that has become remarkably effective in tricking people into infecting their devices—is all that’s required for an attacker to take control of a Muse account.

— Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026
That includes Memory Integrity protection, which uses hardware-dependent methods to prevent malware from infecting OS processes.

— Chris Hoffman, PC Magazine, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of infecting

Verb

Could something so commonplace really be slowly poisoning people?

— Sean McCann, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2026
The court heard how the former nurse, now 36, attacked babies in her care by administering air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them and poisoning them with insulin.

— Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of poisoning

Browse Nearby Words

watering cans

watering down

watering hole

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“Watering down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watering%20down. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of watering down

verb

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