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Another word for contaminate

a-z
Verb

  1. To make physically impure

      1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter.
      2. To make less suitable for an activity, especially by the introduction of unwanted factors:
      3. To render impure or morally harmful; corrupt:
      1. A substance that causes injury, illness, or death, especially by chemical means.
      2. Something destructive or fatal.
      3. A substance that inhibits another substance or a reaction:
      1. Offensive to the senses; revolting:
      2. Having a bad odor or taste:
      3. Rotten or putrid:
      1. To make filthy or dirty; pollute:
      2. To debase the pureness or excellence of; corrupt:
      3. To profane or sully (a reputation, for example).
    See also:

    clean

  2. To make morally impure

      1. To affect or associate with something undesirable or reprehensible:
      2. To expose to an infectious agent, toxin, or undesirable substance:
      3. To subject to decay or putrefaction:
      1. The top layer of the earth's surface in which plants can grow, consisting of rock and mineral particles mixed with decayed organic matter and having the capability of retaining water.
      2. A particular kind of earth or ground:
      3. Country; land:
      1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter.
      2. To make less suitable for an activity, especially by the introduction of unwanted factors:
      3. To render impure or morally harmful; corrupt:
      1. To invade and proliferate in, often resulting in disease. Used of microorganisms or other infectious agents:
      2. To cause the invasion of (a cell, for example) with a microorganism or other infectious agent:
      3. To transmit a pathogen or disease to:
      1. To make filthy or dirty; pollute:
      2. To debase the pureness or excellence of; corrupt:
      3. To profane or sully (a reputation, for example).
      1. Marked by immorality and perversion; depraved.
      2. Venal or dishonest:
      3. Containing errors or alterations, especially ones that prevent proper understanding or use:
    See also:

    clean

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Another word for contaminate

Verb
      1. To lower in character, quality, or value; degrade.
      1. To reduce the value or quality of; impair or spoil:
      2. To corrupt morally; debase:
      3. To make ineffective (a contract or legal stipulation, for example); invalidate.
      1. To make dirty; soil.
      2. To cast aspersions upon; speak badly of.
      1. Offensive to the senses; revolting:
      2. Having a bad odor or taste:
      3. Rotten or putrid:
      1. The top layer of the earth's surface in which plants can grow, consisting of rock and mineral particles mixed with decayed organic matter and having the capability of retaining water.
      2. A particular kind of earth or ground:
      3. Country; land:
      1. Covered or marked with dirt or an unwanted substance; unclean.
      2. Spreading dirt; polluting:
      3. Apt to soil with dirt or grime:
      1. To make impure by adding extraneous, improper, or inferior ingredients.
      2. Spurious; adulterated.
      3. Adulterous.
      1. Marked by immorality and perversion; depraved.
      2. Venal or dishonest:
      3. Containing errors or alterations, especially ones that prevent proper understanding or use:
      1. To impair or destroy the value or quality of; ruin:
      2. To harm the character of (a child) by overindulgence or leniency.
      3. To plunder; despoil.
      1. To mar the cleanness or luster of; soil or stain.
      2. To defile; taint:
      3. Something that stains or spots.
      1. A substance that causes injury, illness, or death, especially by chemical means.
      2. Something destructive or fatal.
      3. A substance that inhibits another substance or a reaction:
      1. To invade and proliferate in, often resulting in disease. Used of microorganisms or other infectious agents:
      2. To cause the invasion of (a cell, for example) with a microorganism or other infectious agent:
      3. To transmit a pathogen or disease to:
      1. To make filthy or dirty; pollute:
      2. To debase the pureness or excellence of; corrupt:
      3. To profane or sully (a reputation, for example).
      1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter.
      2. To make less suitable for an activity, especially by the introduction of unwanted factors:
      3. To render impure or morally harmful; corrupt:
      1. To affect or associate with something undesirable or reprehensible:
      2. To expose to an infectious agent, toxin, or undesirable substance:
      3. To subject to decay or putrefaction:
    See also:

    dirty

    corrupt

Synonym Study

  • Defile implies pollution or desecration of that which should be kept pure or sacred
  • Pollute implies complete befoulment through contamination, and now often suggests an impairment of purity that makes something injurious to health
  • Taint emphasizes effect over cause and implies that some measure of decay or corruption has taken place tainted meat
  • Contaminate means to make impure, unclean, or unfit for use through contact or addition milk contaminated by radioactive fallout
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sentence Examples

  • They also contaminate clothing, which thus becomes another means of dissemination capable of acting at a distance.

  • Always wash your hands thoroughly before and after working with herbs to ensure that no bacteria from your hands contaminate the final tincture.

  • When naturally-occurring chemicals like nitrates and phosphorus contaminate water, the organisms don't have the right balance of nutrients to survive.

  • Phosphorus can leach out of soil and contaminate water, leading to decreased water quality and harming the creatures that live in the water.

  • Like any plastic product, PVC yoga mats can contaminate the immediate environment long before they are thrown out at the dump; breathing in plastic fumes, for example, is not an ideal complement to yogic breathing.

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Words that mention contaminate in the Dictionary

Words near contaminate in the Thesaurus