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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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

Ryan plays Carla Russo, a veteran nurse at Yale Fertility Center who pleads guilty to diverting vast amounts of fentanyl and diluting it with saline, forcing many patients to endure egg-retrieval surgery without anesthesia.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026
Too much success at entry prices comes with a risk of overexposure, diluting brand equity and perhaps training the consumer to hold off for even more price cuts, the report warns.

— Miles Socha, Footwear News, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of diluting

Verb

By cutting the number of working holiday visas, critics say, the government risks causing more economic pain.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026
The state’s top law enforcement officer will not shed any light on why subpoenas were recently served on a slew of Broward County officials regarding the county’s efforts to explore cutting ties with the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

— Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of cutting

Verb

Now 64, the executive chairman of $17 billion iron ore giant Fortescue is intent on upturning age-old practices in the heavily polluting $3 trillion mining industry.

— Vivienne Walt, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
The latter regulation is the state’s backstop climate trading program that puts an ever-stricter cap on emissions across sectors and allows polluting businesses to buy and trade allowances to meet it.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of polluting

Verb

Communities can reduce their fire risk by thinning out grass, brush, and trees with weed trimmers, mowers, and chainsaws.

— Ingfei Chen, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2026
Climate change has been thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region’s mineral resources.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of thinning

Verb

Now the technique has become mainstream as attackers reap its simplicity and effectiveness in infecting users of PCs and Macs alike.

— Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 11 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

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
Former Titans scout Blaise Taylor received consecutive life sentences after his conviction for poisoning his pregnant girlfriend.

— Chris Branch, New York Times, 10 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 25 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of watering down

verb

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