adulterate

[uh-duhl-tuh-reyt, uh-duhl-ter-it, -tuh-reyt]

verb (used with object)

adulterated, adulterating 

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.

2. adulterous.

adulterate

verb

1. (tr) to debase by adding inferior material

   to adulterate milk with water

adjective

1. adulterated; debased or impure

2. a less common word for adulterous

Other Word Forms

• adulteration noun
• adulterator noun
• unadulterate adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of adulterate¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of adulterate¹

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

Example Sentences

It also has fostered marketplaces for pesticide-free cannabis distillate, as brands confronted with adulterated feedstocks seek cleaner supply lines.

From Los Angeles Times

The new law forbade the manufacture and sale of foods that were “adulterated or misbranded or poisonous.”

From Los Angeles Times

Jeff Pettis, the federation’s president, said that they were "continuing to fight for improvements to the testing" and that he wanted "the public to know that local honey is much less likely to be adulterated."

From BBC

These levels were at least 1,500 times lower than in the adulterated cinnamon.

From Salon

Dark web marketplaces seen by the BBC suggest some of the same online sellers in China are advertising nitazenes in bulk as well as adulterated benzodiazepines.

From BBC

Related Words

• contaminate 

When To Use

What does adulterate mean?

To adulterate means to make something impure or alter its original form by adding materials or elements that aren’t usually part of it, especially inferior ones.Adulterate is commonly used in the context of food preparation and manufacturing in reference to the contamination of food products with additives that make them impure in some way. There are laws against this, especially when the ingredients added may be harmful to people’s health. It can also be used in a less serious way to refer to adding ingredients thought to be unnecessary, as in I would never adulterate coffee with sugar or cream.Adulterate is also commonly used in a more general way to refer to any action that alters something in a way that people think makes it impure or inferior.The noun form of adulterate is adulteration. The past tense form adulterated can also be used as an adjective, as in Officials confiscated the adulterated foods. Less commonly, adulterate itself can also be used as an adjective in the same way.Example: Some sellers were caught adulterating the spices by adding fillers.