POLLUTED Synonyms: 92 Similar and Opposite Words

polluted 1 of 2

adjective

as in contaminated

containing foreign or lower-grade substances called in to clean up the polluted stream

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polluted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of pollute

as in poisoned

to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable outmoded factories polluting the air

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of polluted

Adjective

In Wilmington, officials are looking into why a couple of polluted tidal creeks in the area are struggling to recover despite restoration efforts. — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026 But flood control cut off that supply, replacing it with polluted canals. — Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026 Other potential impacts include deforestation, air pollution, noise and polluted water seeping into rivers and lakes, which can poison fish populations and sully drinking water supplies. — ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026 The standard medical terms clinicians rely on may become distorted or polluted. — Frank Naeymi-Rad, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 In 1990 the Missouri attorney general sued Industrial Wrecking for operating after its permit was suspended and allowing polluted water to flow into a drainage ditch. — Jack Harvel august 17, Kansas City Star, 17 Aug. 2026 Turner has pointed out that Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, is among the most polluted places in America, while roughly a quarter of local families experience food insecurity. — Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026 And humans and our behaviors are one of the biggest reasons our river water becomes polluted. — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026 Historically, these communities have been displaced, or suffered from polluted air and water as a result—even long after the mines close. — Justin Worland, Time, 4 Aug. 2026

Verb

Our state has thousands of sites already polluted with toxic chemicals and other pollutants, and those projects affect air quality, safe drinking water and community health for millions of Californians. — Shannon Olivieri Hovis, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026 Greenpeace Germany warned that oil has already polluted stretches of coastline and damaged the area's fragile ecosystem. — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026 Stretches of coastline and the area’s sensitive marine ecosystem have been polluted and damaged. — ABC News, 1 Aug. 2026 Both lead to context getting polluted, eroding response quality at scale. — Chhaya Methani, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 The same river that was savagely polluted by the mining industry, devastating the ancestral oasis of Quillagua. — Cristina Dorador, The Dial, 14 July 2026 But stars aren’t the only things that fail to show up when the sky is polluted with light; fireflies, those flashing, nostalgic symbols of summer, often skip the party too. — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 1 July 2026 Midland, Texas, is still cleaning up groundwater polluted by a leaking injection well more than two decades ago. — Nick Bowlin, ProPublica, 30 June 2026 As a result, many people living near Mavecure have gotten out of gold mining, which polluted the jungle rivers with mercury and sediment, to work as tour guides, operate restaurants and hostels, or sell arts and crafts. — John Otis, NPR, 30 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for polluted

Adjective

People cannot become infected by swallowing contaminated water.

— Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2026
Consumers who may have purchased contaminated products have been advised by the FDA to either throw them away or return them for a refund at the place of purchase.

— Rebecca Schneid, Time, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of contaminated

Verb

Glutathione is processed in sterile compounding pharmacies, and there have been cases of people getting poisoned due to contamination at these facilities, Sack said.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026
Patterson was accused of pretending to eat the same portion, and of feigning illness in an elaborate ruse to suggest she’d also been poisoned.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of poisoned

Adjective

Chlorine bleach is made with diluted sodium hypochlorite, Linley McConnell, laundry and cleaning expert at Gibson’s Cleaners, explains.

— Caroline Lubinsky, Martha Stewart, 16 Aug. 2026
For mild nausea, massage a few drops of diluted peppermint oil directly on the stomach.

— BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of diluted

Verb

But Reese and her Dream teammates tainted the historic night during the final 20 seconds.

— Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026
In July, the US was hit with a wave of explosive diarrhea caused by an outbreak of cyclospora, a parasite that spreads through food and water tainted with human feces.

— Maggie Harrison Dupré, Futurism, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of tainted

Adjective

Finally, the third recruits seaweed to gather minerals that are otherwise too dilute to chase.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 27 July 2026
Clean and disinfect your pruning shears between working on each plant by dipping them into a dilute 10% solution of chlorine bleach water or rubbing alcohol.

— Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 4 July 2026

Definition of dilute

Adjective

Yum reported mixed second-quarter results and said the cyclospora outbreak linked to Taco Bell hit the chain's sales in July, but that trends began to improve.

— Deena Zaidi, CNBC, 31 Aug. 2026
Open Concepts With more mixed reactions than the other trends, open concepts fill out the top five most controversial design trends.

— Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of mixed

Adjective

Wise’s wistful songwriting is retained, but completely missing is his intentionally impure palette.

— Billie Bugara, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2026
Kanto practitioners believe that women cannot participate because, according to Japan's Shinto religion, women's blood from menstruation and childbirth is considered impure for the purpose of religious rituals.

— Anthony Kuhn, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025

Definition of impure

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“Polluted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polluted. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of polluted

adjective

verb

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