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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 watering down
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
Broiling the vegetables keeps them from watering down the casserole.
—Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 18 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
On Wednesday, The Times reported that Bass was directly involved in watering down the city’s after-action report on the fire, citing unnamed sources.
—David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2026
States that are already watering down or even eliminating vaccine requirements may align with the administration’s decision to neglect and hide the data, contributing to a growing gap between states on vaccine policy, further fragmenting and politicizing decisions that should be based on science.
—Jill Rosenthal, STAT, 14 Jan. 2026
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
Alexandra Glorioso, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2026
Broiling the vegetables keeps them from watering down the casserole.
—Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 18 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
On Wednesday, The Times reported that Bass was directly involved in watering down the city’s after-action report on the fire, citing unnamed sources.
—David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2026
States that are already watering down or even eliminating vaccine requirements may align with the administration’s decision to neglect and hide the data, contributing to a growing gap between states on vaccine policy, further fragmenting and politicizing decisions that should be based on science.
—Jill Rosenthal, STAT, 14 Jan. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for watering down
Verb
-
Deter bees from soaking up the nectar by diluting the blend, mixing it with more water than sugar.—
Blythe Copeland,
Martha Stewart,
15 Apr. 2026
-
What’s more, the suit alleges that management and company affiliates enriched themselves — through operating fees, development fees, property-management and leasing fees, reimbursements and insider-favoring transactions — while diluting investor equity.—
Jennifer Van Grove,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Edgar Quero got hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Andrew Benintendi.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
-
But there’s also an imbalance created with loading up that Cirelli line, which is that Point’s unit is far less dangerous.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The 76ers got small cushions, with the Celtics cutting it to a point three additional times.—
Kyle Hightower,
Chicago Tribune,
3 May 2026
-
School systems typically cope with declining enrollment by closing schools and cutting staff, among other options.—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
2 May 2026
Verb
-
As of last April, the state environmental agency was also lagging behind on inspections of polluting facilities, according to the audit.—
Christine Condon,
Baltimore Sun,
24 Apr. 2026
-
In the industrial revolution, emissions from factories and eventually cars began polluting our air, trapping atmospheric gases and warming our planet, pushing temperatures to dangerous levels.—
Brandon Goldner,
CBS News,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The conflict in the Middle East has forced the US to divert some of its most critical military assets away from Asia, thinning its deterrence posture in a region where China is increasingly asserting its power and maintains ambitions toward Taiwan.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
2 May 2026
-
The American Hair Loss Association says two-thirds of American men will experience hair thinning by their mid-30s, and 85% will experience significant hair loss by 50.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The procedure, called variolation, involved deliberately infecting a soldier with a small amount of smallpox virus to build immunity.—
Katrine L. Wallace,
The Conversation,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Interest in her field exploded in the late 1990s and again in the mid-aughts when the H5N1 bird flu virus began infecting and killing mass numbers of poultry in China and other parts of Southeast Asia — and infecting and killing some people as well.—
Helen Branswell,
STAT,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The young woman who sojourned to Oberlin College, where she was wrongfully accused of poisoning her classmates and beaten half to death, who raised her hands in defense of herself, then went on to grip clay and rock and chisel to re-create visions of justice.—
Tyehimba Jess,
ARTnews.com,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Protesters, however, say that HERC, which neighbors Target Field near the North Loop neighborhood, is responsible for essentially poisoning people who live nearby.—
Conor Wight,
CBS News,
10 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Watering down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watering%20down. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
