Denature

verb

verb ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To take away a natural characteristic or inherent property of (a thing or a person). transitive
  2. 2
    make (alcohol) unfit for drinking without impairing usefulness for other purposes wordnet
  3. 3
    To add something to (alcohol) that makes it unsuitable for consumption but leaves it suitable for most other purposes. transitive

    "While you cannot drink denatured alcohol, you can still use it to remove sticker glue from most surfaces."

  4. 4
    modify (as a native protein) especially by heat, acid, alkali, or ultraviolet radiation so that all of the original properties are removed or diminished wordnet
  5. 5
    To alter its original form or state, especially of a protein, by heat, acidity etc. intransitive, transitive

    "Sugars are wonderfully robust materials! Unlike proteins that easily denature and coagulate, unlike fats that are damaged by air and heat and go rancid, unlike starch chains that break apart into smaller chains of glucose molecules, sugars themselves are small and stable molecules."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    add nonfissionable material to (fissionable material) so as to make unsuitable for use in an atomic bomb wordnet
  2. 7
    Of double-stranded DNA, specifically to split into two single strands. intransitive, transitive
  3. 8
    To combine fissile material with nonfissile material in order to prevent its use in an atomic weapon.

Synonyms

All synonyms
denaturalizeaccommodateadaptadjustadulteratealloy

Example

More examples

"While you cannot drink denatured alcohol, you can still use it to remove sticker glue from most surfaces."

Etymology

From French dénaturer.

Related phrases

atomic weapon

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.