Word: adulterate (verb)

Associations

The word "adulterate" means to make something worse or less pure by adding something else, usually something harmful or lower quality.

• In food or drink: "They adulterate milk by adding water." This means the milk is made less pure by mixing in water.
• In products: "The company was fined for adulterating their medicine." This means the medicine was made impure or unsafe.
• In general: "Don't adulterate your ideas with false information." This means don't spoil your ideas by adding wrong facts.

A well-known synonym is "contaminate," but "adulterate" usually means deliberately adding something bad to lower quality, while "contaminate" can be accidental or harmful in general.

Substitution

Instead of "adulterate," you can say:

• "contaminate" (more general, can be accidental)
• "dilute" (means to make weaker by adding liquid, but not always bad)
• "degrade" (means to reduce quality or value) Using "adulterate" often implies a negative, deliberate action to spoil something.

Deconstruction

• Prefix: "ad-" means "to" or "toward."
• Root: "ulter" comes from Latin "alter," meaning "other."
• Suffix: "-ate" is a verb ending. The word comes from Latin "adulterare," meaning to corrupt or make impure by adding something else.

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when someone might adulterate food or drink? Why would they do it?
• Have you ever seen or heard about products that were adulterated? What was the result?
• How can adulterating something affect people's trust in a company or product?