polluting

verb

Definition of pollutingnext
present participle of pollute
as in poisoning
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable outmoded factories polluting the air

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 polluting Throwing a piece of garbage out of the window affects every Texan, polluting water and soil and affecting wildlife. — Katie Standing, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026 This means the development of new clean energy sources will provide greater financial benefits to families rather than polluting, expensive, and outdated sources of energy like oil and gas. — Sanya Carley, Time, 7 Oct. 2026 Many off-grid communities have long relied on costly, polluting diesel generators. — ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026 Open Mind was designed to show readers views that challenged the material polluting their feeds. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026 Industrial animal agriculture confines and kills billions of animals while polluting waterways and damaging ecosystems. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026 The latter regulation is the state’s backstop climate trading program that puts an ever-stricter cap on emissions across sectors and allows polluting businesses to buy and trade allowances to meet it. — Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026 Environmental groups advocated for SB 954 over concerns that the CEQA exemption could allow heavily polluting facilities to bypass environmental review. — Naomi Taxay, Sacbee.com, 29 Aug. 2026 This novel legal approach, likened to a polluting factory, argues that AI chatbots cause mental harm, provide uncertified advice, and undermine public health and safety. — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for polluting
  1. poisoning
  2. contaminating
  3. tainting
Verb
  • May says national polarization is poisoning the atmosphere locally.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • James Folta considers how generative AI is poisoning the literary well for everyone.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of poisoning
Verb
  • Simon Wohlfahrt | Afp | Getty Images As France’s economic and political woes mount, investors are asking whether the country’s debt problems risk contaminating the rest of the euro zone.
    — Jenni Reid,Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Lincoln Park Zoo sits atop a former burial ground, Chicago City Cemetery, which was moved in the 1860s amid concerns that the graves were contaminating the water supply.
    — Jennifer Day, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of contaminating
Verb
  • Several homeowners near Meta’s massive Newton County data center have filed a lawsuit accusing the tech company and others of tainting their water and destroying their rural way of life.
    — Zachary Hansen, AJC.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • For all intents and purposes, an unknown actor can wade unburdened into the depths of Bond, able to transform without a viewer’s prior expectation tainting the image of 007.
    — Emily Maskell, IndieWire, 10 July 2026
Definition of tainting

Browse Nearby Words

pollutes
polluting
pollution
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Cite this Entry

“Polluting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polluting. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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