English Explanatory Dictionary

adulterate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Corrupted or made impure by being mixed with something else; adulterated.
  2. Tending to commit adultery; relating to or being the product of adultery; adulterous.
verb
  1. To corrupt, to debase (someone or something).
  2. To make less valuable or spoil (something) by adding impurities or other substances.
  3. To commit adultery with (someone).
  4. To defile (someone) by adultery.
  5. To commit adultery.

Pronunciation

/əˈdʌltəɹət/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-adulterate.wav [-ˈdəl-] /əˈdʌltəɹeɪt/ [-ˈdɒl-] /əˈdʌltəˌɹeɪt/ En-us-adulterate.ogg

Word forms

adulterate more adulterate most adulterate adulterates adulterating adulterated no-table-tags glossary adulteratest adulteratedst adulterateth

Etymology

From Latin adulterātus (“adulterate, adulterated, defiled, polluted, counterfeited”), perfect passive participle of adulterō (“to adulterate, defile, commit adultery (with), counterfeit”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to, in the direction of”) + alter (“other”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), literally “to go after someone else”. Equivalent to adultery + -ate.

Synonyms

abase adulter adulterate adulterize alloy balderdash corrupt bastardize dash dilute embase sophisticate lead astray warp debauch demoralize detort file immoralize pervert pollute preposterate seduce suborn subvert tamper unmoralize vitiate debase

Antonyms

enrich rectify refine

Related words

adulterant adulterated adulterately adulterating adulteration adulterator adultered adulterer adulteress adulterine adultering adulterism adulterize adulter adulterous adulterously adultery

Derived words

adulterateness unadulterate adulterator
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on A Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary