1
as in dilute
containing foreign or lower-grade substances
the pharmacist was convicted of selling adulterate drugs in order to maximize profits
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in adulterous
relating to or being a sexual encounter or relationship between a married person and someone other than their spouse
caught red-handed in what he claimed was his first adulterate encounter
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to dilute
to alter (something) for the worse with the addition of foreign or lower-grade substances
the company was fined for adulterating its "all beef" frankfurters with cereal
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of adulterate
Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 13 June 2024
Additionally, some products might be adulterated or tainted with prescription-drug ingredients.15
14.
—Trang Tran, Pharmd, Verywell Health, 18 Oct. 2024
Prosecutors said 75% of the fentanyl given to patients at the clinic from June to October 2020 was adulterated by saline.
—Dave Collins, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2024
The practice of adulterating honey is well known, and historically adulterants such as ash and potato flour have been used.
—Daniel Matthews, Fortune Europe, 5 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Verb
Hanson was initially charged on April 26 with only one count of adulterating or contaminating food, which under Kansas law is a criminal threat.
—Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 13 June 2024
Additionally, some products might be adulterated or tainted with prescription-drug ingredients.15
14.
—Trang Tran, Pharmd, Verywell Health, 18 Oct. 2024
Prosecutors said 75% of the fentanyl given to patients at the clinic from June to October 2020 was adulterated by saline.
—Dave Collins, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2024
The practice of adulterating honey is well known, and historically adulterants such as ash and potato flour have been used.
—Daniel Matthews, Fortune Europe, 5 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adulterate
Adjective
-
Vinegar, which is really dilute acetic acid, will help the milk curdle by further denaturing the whey proteins and neutralizing negative charges at the surface of casein micelles.—
Liz Roth-Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
12 Feb. 2013
-
However toxic a substance may be, the amount of exposure received by the general population is very dilute.—
George Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
8 July 2013
Adjective
-
Nor did anyone blink when Shonda Rhimes set Scandal within the White House of a wishy-washy, adulterous GOP President who’d unwittingly stolen an election.—
Judy Berman,
TIME,
20 Feb. 2025
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The new version strips down the book’s narrative, concentrating on the plight of an adulterous airline pilot (Cage) who’s forced to land a plane after all the good Christians are called up to heaven.—
Emily Heller,
Vulture,
12 July 2024
Verb
-
Slowing down enforcement could be considered a license to pollute — but industry would have to take a leap of faith that enforcers won’t catch up with them.—
Jan Ellen Spiegel,
Hartford Courant,
28 Mar. 2025
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Loosening wastewater rules will pollute soil and negatively impact crops even more, McBride said.—
Julia Jacobo,
ABC News,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The famous composer’s Y chromosome was inherited not from the common ancestor of all the van Beethovens living today, but from an unknown father—perhaps the result of an extramarital affair in the generations before he was born.—
ByAndrew Curry,
science.org,
6 Mar. 2025
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In 2009, Woods fell from grace after numerous extramarital affairs came to light.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to distributing adulterated ice-cream products and agreed to pay a fine over the outbreak.—
Dylan Tokar,
WSJ,
2 Feb. 2023
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And while most of those overdoses involved the illicit synthetic opioid fentanyl, experts say that an adulterated and contaminated drug supply is also leading to deaths.—
Nadia Kounang,
CNN,
17 Mar. 2022
Adjective
-
Even younger kids can feel pressured to follow a certain path or pursue a certain extracurricular activity.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
20 Mar. 2025
-
In February, a warning from a South Texas school district that agents at checkpoints might board school buses carrying schoolchildren to extracurricular activities panicked parents in the region.—
Suzanne Gamboa,
NBC News,
15 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The company reported net income of $21.1 million, or $1.39 per diluted share, compared to $23.9 million, or $1.55 per diluted share, in the previous year.—
Quartz Intelligence Newsroom,
Quartz,
28 Mar. 2025
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In the year, net income was $3.1 million, or 5 cents a diluted share, down from $27.9 million, or 43 cents, in fiscal 2023.—
Jean E. Palmieri,
WWD,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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As the recall was initiated back in February, the contaminated merchandise may have since been removed from shelves.—
Moná Thomas,
People.com,
21 Mar. 2025
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Listen to this article The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will not reconsider its denial to investigate whether the Tijuana River Estuary qualifies as a Superfund site, a designation given to the most contaminated places in the country needing long-term cleanup.—
Tammy Murga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Adulterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulterate. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
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