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
Marley Malenfant, Austin American-Statesman, 29 Aug. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Verb
Check best-by dates Boar's Head Provisions Co., Inc. recalled all liverwurst product produced by the establishment that is currently available in commerce because it may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes.
—Marley Malenfant, Austin American-Statesman, 29 Aug. 2024
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
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
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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
-
Well, the nation’s most polluting coal plant, Montana’s Colstrip plant, has asked the EPA for an exemption, as the New York Times’ Hiroko Tabuchi reports.—
Sammy Roth,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2025
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Vyse's version is simpler and cheaper—estimated to add only a few cents more to the price of a drink—and avoids polluting gases.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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When the two connected, to Adell’s surprise, the story she had been told about her birth, that she was conceived via an extramarital affair, was a lie.—
Taylor Crumpton,
Essence,
14 Apr. 2025
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For romantic thrills, people openly pursue extramarital affairs, though these aren’t necessarily consummated.—
Madeleine Feeny,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
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
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The analysis also says the diversion of taxpayer dollars away from public schools has led to schools being shut down, teachers being laid off and the loss of other resources like extracurricular activities.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Apr. 2025
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In addition, there is discretionary spending that may include college tuition, vacations, and extracurricular activities $71,586.—
Lynn Mucenski Keck,
Forbes.com,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Philip Morris smokes estimates Philip Morris International (PM) reported first-quarter results that exceeded expectations, with adjusted diluted earnings per share growing 12.7% to $1.69.—
Kevin Ryan,
Quartz,
23 Apr. 2025
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Net income was $646 million, or 34 cents per diluted share.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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It’s spread when chickens come into contact with infected birds or through contaminated water, feed and equipment.—
Pete & Gerry's Contributor,
Forbes.com,
17 Apr. 2025
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For decades there has been concern that CWD could move into human populations through the ingestion of contaminated meat.—
Susanne Rust,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Adulterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulterate. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
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