adul·ter·ate
ə-ˈdəl-tə-ˌrāt 
adulterated; adulterating
: to corrupt, debase, or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element
especially
: to prepare for sale by replacing more valuable with less valuable or inert ingredients
He was in the same plight as the manufacturer who has to adulterate and misrepresent his product. If he does not, some one else will. —
Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
adul·ter·ate
ə-ˈdəl-t(ə-)rət
1
: being adulterated : spurious
2
: tainted with adultery : adulterous
… that incestuous, that adulterate beast …—William Shakespeare
William ShakespeareExamples of adulterate in a Sentence
Verb
The company is accused of adulterating its products with cheap additives.
the company was fined for adulterating its “all beef” frankfurters with cereal
Adjective
the pharmacist was convicted of selling adulterate drugs in order to maximize profits
caught red-handed in what he claimed was his first adulterate encounter
Recent Examples on the Web
Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated.
—Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 3 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated (discarded).
—Gege Reed, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025
Some olive oils are adulterated, which means other substances may be added to them to lower the quality—and often manufacturing costs—while increasing the amount in the bottle.
—Sohaib Imtiaz, Verywell Health, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
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Verb
Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez was dead against the idea, with his club arguing that breaking the traditional home and away format adulterated the competition, while also expressing concern over participating teams gaining a financial advantage.
—Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated.
—Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 3 Oct. 2025
Food and/or ice adulterated or contaminated (discarded).
—Gege Reed, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025
Some olive oils are adulterated, which means other substances may be added to them to lower the quality—and often manufacturing costs—while increasing the amount in the bottle.
—Sohaib Imtiaz, Verywell Health, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for adulterate
Cite this Entry
“Adulterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adulterate. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
adulterate
transitive verb
adul·ter·ate
ə-ˈdəl-tə-ˌrāt
adulterated; adulterating
: to corrupt, debase, or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance
especially
: to prepare for sale by replacing more valuable with less valuable or inert ingredients
Legal Definition
adulterate
transitive verb
adul·ter·ate
ə-ˈdəl-tə-ˌrāt
adulterated; adulterating
: to corrupt, debase, or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element
especially
: to prepare for sale by omitting a valuable ingredient or by replacing more valuable ingredients with less valuable or inert and usually harmful ingredients or with ingredients different from those claimed
Note: Under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a device such as a piece of medical equipment that is defective in some way is considered adulterated.
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