What does "fluoridate" mean?

To add fluoride to something, especially to drinking water in order to reduce tooth decay.

What is a synonym for "fluoridate"?

Common synonyms include: fluoridize, fluoridise.

Fluoridate

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1
To add fluoride to something, especially to drinking water in order to reduce tooth decay. transitive
"Out of the 484 Utah water systems that reported data in 2024, only 66 fluoridated their water, an Associated Press analysis showed. The largest was the state’s biggest city, Salt Lake City."
2
subject to fluoridation; treat with fluoride wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

fluoridize fluoridise

Example

More examples

"Out of the 484 Utah water systems that reported data in 2024, only 66 fluoridated their water, an Associated Press analysis showed. The largest was the state’s biggest city, Salt Lake City."

Etymology

Back-formation from fluoridation, equivalent to fluoride + -ate.

Related phrases

drinking water

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