Pollute

//pəˈluːt// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make something harmful, especially by the addition of some unwanted product. transitive

    "The factory polluted the river when it cleaned its tanks."

  2. 2
    make impure wordnet
  3. 3
    To make something or somewhere less suitable for some activity, especially by the introduction of some unnatural factor. transitive

    "The lights from the stadium polluted the night sky, and we couldn't see the stars."

  4. 4
    To corrupt or profane

    "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."

  5. 5
    To violate sexually; to debauch; to dishonour.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Polluted; defiled. rare

Synonyms

All synonyms
contaminatevitiatecorruptdefileviolate;

Example

More examples

"Some factories pollute the environment."

Etymology

From Middle English polluten, borrowed from Latin pollūtum, from pollūtus (“no longer virgin", "unchaste”), perfect passive participle of polluō (“soil", "defile", "dishonor”).

Related phrases

self-pollute

More for "pollute"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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