1
as in tainting
to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable
believed that luxury vitiates even the most principled person
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
numerous grammatical errors vitiate the effectiveness of your writing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in degrading
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
a penchant for coarse language vitiates what is otherwise a refined literary style
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vitiating
Verb
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Played by cisgender actress Kathleen Turner, Charles proved to be one of the more divisive characters from Friends, tainting its cultural legacy for some critics.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Feb. 2026 -
Infected people and dogs had to be prevented from tainting water sources.—
Dan Raby,
CBS News,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Police say the semi truck driver went through a median wall, severely damaging it.—
DeJanay Booth-Singleton,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
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Photos on local media and social networks showed fallen trees in Zagreb, pulled out by their roots, some blocking streets or damaging parked cars.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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More than 100 aircraft launched from land and sea in the first day, with cyber and space campaigns degrading Iranian communications and sensors while the air campaign struck command-and-control centers, ballistic-missile sites, naval forces and intelligence infrastructure.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2026
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However, having a physical tether limits reliable range, with performance degrading beyond about 20 kilometers (12 miles) as cables snap under stress.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Many of the nation's 11 million residents struggle to keep food from spoiling.—
MATTHEW LEE,
Arkansas Online,
22 Mar. 2026
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As Cuba’s economic crisis deepens and amid the fuel shortages and the blackouts, hospitals have been hard hit, leaving patients in the dark and medicine at risk of spoiling.—
Carmen Sesin,
NBC news,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The demoralizing graffiti marring the main entrance to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 360 Lenox Ave.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
12 Feb. 2026
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Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate, along with Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren, were ejected for fighting, marring what was an intriguing game between the top team in the Eastern Conference and the one featuring the NBA’s longest current win streak.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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For Hildegard of Bingen, the German mystic, scientist, composer, and philosopher, women’s maternal bodies were not corrupting and degrading, but strong, nurturing, and creative.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
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In his Phaedrus, Plato attacked reading as corrupting true philosophical dialectic.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In the Middle Ages, local churchgoers whispered of clannish Jews poisoning wells to kill Christian children and steal their blood for their rituals.—
Mike Rothschild,
Big Think,
31 Mar. 2026
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After Kouri Richins was charged with murder for fatally poisoning her husband with fentanyl, a friend of the Utah mother of three had a difficult time reconciling that.—
Meredith Deliso,
ABC News,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The order vacated guilty verdicts from the 2018 trial of Renardo Williams, who was convicted of killing Bethgy Catora and shooting and injuring Mayklens Francois during a drug deal gone wrong.—
Colleen Cronin,
Boston Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
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Rodriguez landed on his knees, injuring his shoulder, and was hoisting himself back up when Hernandez allegedly targeted Williams, according to prosecutors.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
30 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Vitiating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vitiating. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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