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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Section Two of the act tries to prevent legislative map drawers from diluting the votes of minorities by either packing them into one district or spreading them out among too many districts to have an impact.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
13 Oct. 2025
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The 2024 European Parliament elections strengthened far-right blocs and pushed the centre-right toward diluting elements of the Green Deal, reframing climate rules as sovereignty or competitiveness threats and amplifying cost-of-living and farmer-protest narratives.—
Felicia Jackson,
Forbes.com,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The unnecessary teensy twin spoilers seem to serve no purpose beyond making loading things into the bed of the truck harder.—
Sean Evans,
Robb Report,
14 Oct. 2025
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Published in the journal PLOS One, the study examined how running with a stroller affects loading forces on the body.—
Daniella Gray,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Unified Government created a set of incentives, which include cutting permit fees and water and sewer connection fees, for people who want to build on its land bank property to try to encourage redevelopment.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
18 Oct. 2025
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The prince also accused his father of cutting him off financially, and Meghan said the royals discussed denying their children prince and princess titles and police protection.—
Jack Royston,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Threats to these sites from the outside include logging and mining in the region, developing nearby land, diverting natural water flows, and polluting the air, water and land.—
Jessica Beaudette,
The Conversation,
11 Oct. 2025
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This invisible, climate-polluting gas can escape into the water through fissures in the sea floor, often revealing itself with a stream of bubbles weaving their way up to the ocean surface.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN Money,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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People taking blood-thinning medications should exercise caution when consuming large amounts of ginger juice (or when combined with carrot juice).—
Sohaib Imtiaz,
Verywell Health,
14 Oct. 2025
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Around the house or farm, the USDA says habitat modifications can help prevent ticks, including mowing the grass, removing trees, reducing shade by thinning trees and placing mulch barriers.—
Chad Murphy,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Measles outbreaks are infecting more people this year than in any year since the early 1990s and have already killed three.—
Suhail Bhat,
USA Today,
2 Oct. 2025
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The researchers had shown in 2023 that parasitic scraps of DNA could spread within bacterial populations by hitching rides on the tails of infecting viruses.—
Elie Dolgin,
IEEE Spectrum,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But Antonio distracts him by accusing him in the town square of sending Justina off to El Alcazar and poisoning his son.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
12 Oct. 2025
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Hogan initially denied poisoning her estranged husband, according to police, but later changed her story.—
Mike Stunson,
Miami Herald,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Watering down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watering%20down. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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