adulterate

[ verb uh-duhl-tuh-reyt; adjective uh-duhl-ter-it, -tuh-reyt ]
See synonyms for adulterate on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),a·dul·ter·at·ed, a·dul·ter·at·ing.
  1. to debase or make impure by adding inferior materials or elements; use cheaper, inferior, or less desirable goods in the production of (any professedly genuine article): to adulterate food.

adjective
  1. impure or debased; cheapened in quality or purity.

Origin of adulterate

1
1580–90; <Latin adulterātus mixed, adulterated (past participle of adulterāre), equivalent to ad-ad- + -ulter (perhaps combining form of alter other; see alter) + -ātus-ate1

Other words from adulterate

  • a·dul·ter·a·tor, noun
  • un·a·dul·ter·ate, adjective

Words that may be confused with adulterate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use adulterate in a sentence

  • Fish oil being of about, if not quite, the same specific gravity as pure linseed oil, the adulterator can beat the hydrometer.

    Practical Carriage and Wagon Painting | Mayton Clarence Hillick
  • Some knowledge of chemistry figures in the mental outfit of every dynamiter and adulterator of foods.

British Dictionary definitions for adulterate

adulterate

verb(əˈdʌltəˌreɪt)
  1. (tr) to debase by adding inferior material: to adulterate milk with water

adjective(əˈdʌltərɪt, -ˌreɪt)
  1. adulterated; debased or impure

  2. a less common word for adulterous

Origin of adulterate

1
C16: from Latin adulterāre to corrupt, commit adultery, probably from alter another, hence to approach another, commit adultery

Derived forms of adulterate

  • adulteration, noun
  • adulterator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012