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/ədˈəltərˌeɪtɪd/ Listen

verb

Adulterate v. t. (past & past part. adulterated; pres. part. adulterating)

To defile by adultery. (Obs.)

To corrupt, debase, or make impure by an admixture of a foreign or a baser substance; as, to adulterate food, drink, drugs, coin, etc. "The present war has... adulterated our tongue with strange words."

Synonyms: To corrupt; defile; debase; contaminate; vitiate; sophisticate.

Adulterate v. i. To commit adultery. (Obs.)

adjective

adulterated adj.

Having been made impure by addition of inferior ingredients; said of substances or foods Note: used ususally of articles of commerce, dulted with less costly materials so as to enhance profit; usually imlying that the dilution is surreptitious and unethical

Synonyms: adulterate, debased

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Etymology of 'Adulterated'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Adulterated" Quotes from Famous Books

... vice and corruption advanced among the Romans, their money became debased and adulterated. Thus Pliny, xxxiii. 3, relates, that "Livius Drusus during his tribuneship, mixed an eighth part of brass with the silver coin;" and ibid. 9, "that Antony the triumvir mixed iron with the denarius: that some coined base metal, others diminished the pieces, and hence ...

— The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus • Tacitus

... the usual effects of sleep, nausea, headache, or languor; nor should it be retained too long after drinking it, or be too quickly discharged. If beer purchased at the alehouse be suspected of having been adulterated with the infusion of vitriol, for the purpose of adding to its strength, it may be detected by putting in a few nut galls, which will immediately turn it black, if it have been so adulterated; and the beer ought by all means ...

— The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, • Mary Eaton

... bath perfumed?' 'Eau de mille fleurs.' 'Eau de mille fleurs! Did not I tell you last week that I was tired of that villanous compound? It has been adulterated till nothing remains but its name. Get me another bath immediately au violet; and, Coridon, you may use that other scent, if there is any left, for the poodle; but observe, only when you take him an airing, not when he goes ...

— Olla Podrida • Frederick Marryat

... Irishmen are the first generation of freemen which Ireland nursed these three centuries. The national schools may teach them only the dry elements of knowledge adulterated with Anglicism, and Trinity College may teach them bigotry, along with graceful lore and strong science; but there are other schools at work. There is a national art, and there is an Irish literature growing up. Day after day the choice of the young men discover that genius needs ...

— Thomas Davis, Selections from his Prose and Poetry • Thomas Davis

... station is in Dacia, and the camps along the Danube." [88] Other writers, who confirm the same fact, add likewise, that it happened soon after Aurelian's triumph; that the decisive engagement was fought on the Caelian hill; that the workmen of the mint had adulterated the coin; and that the emperor restored the public credit, by delivering out good money in exchange for the bad, which the people was commanded to bring into the ...

— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 1 • Edward Gibbon

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