CONTAMINATED Synonyms: 92 Similar and Opposite Words

contaminated 1 of 2

adjective

kən-ˈta-mə-ˌnā-təd

Definition of contaminated

as in polluted

containing foreign or lower-grade substances the hospitals had no choice but to throw out the contaminated blood supply

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

contaminated

2 of 2

verb

past tense of contaminate

as in poisoned

to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable a supply of drinking water that was contaminated by a toxic waste dump

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 contaminated

Adjective

Raw chicken juice cross-contaminated onto raw squid when an employee stacked a container of raw chicken on top of the squid container. — Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026 Many Coloradans spent the last few months changing their diets, avoiding produce in fear of tainted food, as nearly 20,000 people across the country were sick after a historic cyclospora outbreak that came from contaminated lettuce. — Jaimie Dodge, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026

Verb

Vibrio, a bacteria found in salt and brackish water, is contracted when wounds are exposed to water containing the bacteria or a person eats contaminated raw or undercooked shellfish. — Eva Flowe october 21, Charlotte Observer, 21 Oct. 2026 Food can also become contaminated when handlers fail to wash their hands or properly clean food preparation surfaces and equipment, according to the FDA. — Sacbee.com, 21 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for contaminated

Recent Examples of Synonyms for contaminated

Adjective

Wildfires in Indonesia are also the source of widespread haze that’s blanketing much of the region and making Southeast Asian cities such as Singapore and Kuala Lumpur among the world’s most polluted.

— Jay Ganglani, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
And everybody, ranging from workers in forced labor, to communities next to a polluted lake, to the companies that are less prepared to operate in a volatile and uncertain world, are paying the bill.

— Ben Vanpeperstraete, Footwear News, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of polluted

Verb

Rau, wondering if his patients had been poisoned somehow, had his staff check the kitchen for contamination.

— D. T. Max, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
Its death, poisoned by anti-freeze in April 2020 during Spain’s COVID confinement, sparks on screen and real-life the first criminal investigation in Spain and Europe for an animal’s slaughter.

— John Hopewell, Variety, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of poisoned

Adjective

In the spring, the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, a landmark civil rights law, making way for Republican states to redraw their congressional maps and igniting fears of diluted Black representation.

— New York Times, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2026
Use a dry microfiber cloth for routine cleaning, and diluted dish soap or white vinegar to remove more stubborn, sticky film.

— Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of diluted

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

Will Stewart be seduced into the path of corruption by using Sinestro’s emotionally tainted battery, or steel himself against ill influences and continue to blaze his own trail as Earth's sole protector for the time being?

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Some say that our country is too tainted and that political progress can be had only by extra-legal means.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of tainted

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contaminate

contaminated

contaminates

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Style

“Contaminated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contaminated. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of contaminated

adjective

verb

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