What does adulterated mean?
"Adulterated" describes something that has been made impure or of poorer quality by having a foreign or inferior substance added to it. The word applies most often to consumables and commodities — food, drink, medicines, spices, and fuels — as when milk is watered down, olive oil is blended with cheaper oils, or gold is mixed with baser metals. It can also be used more figuratively for anything debased from an original form, such as an "adulterated" translation or edition. The term belongs chiefly to formal and technical registers, appearing frequently in food-safety law, regulatory reports, and consumer journalism, and it invariably carries negative connotations of deception or fraud. Its etymology links it closely to "adultery": both derive from the Latin "adulterare", meaning to corrupt or pollute, reflecting an ancient view that falsifying a substance was akin to betraying a bond. The standard opposite is "unadulterated", which ironically has come to mean pure in an emphatic, sometimes positive sense.
Made impure or of poorer quality by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance; debased from its genuine or original state.
"Customs officers confiscated a shipment of adulterated saffron stretched with dyed corn silk."
Frequently used in legal and regulatory contexts, where "adulterated food" has a specific statutory meaning in many jurisdictions.
Past tense and past participle of "adulterate": to have rendered something impure or inferior by adding a foreign or inferior substance.
"The merchants adulterated the wine with water to increase their profits."
The same Latin root gives us both "adulterated" milk and "adultery" — to the Romans, corrupting a substance and betraying a marriage were morally kindred acts.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of adulterated
"Adulterated" comes from the past participle of the verb "adulterate", which English borrowed in the late Middle Ages or early modern period from Latin "adulteratus", the past participle of "adulterare" (to corrupt, defile, or falsify). That verb derives from the Latin noun "adulter", meaning an adulterer, which itself may trace back to "alter" (other), suggesting the idea of introducing something foreign. The same root produced "adultery", "adulterer", and "adulteress", making the moral and material senses of corruption close cousins in the language's history.
Related word forms
How adulterated is actually used
Primarily formal or technical register, common in food-safety regulation, consumer protection, and journalism. It carries strongly negative connotations of fraud or deception. Most often used attributively before a noun ("adulterated milk") but also predicatively ("the wine was adulterated").
Easily confused with adulterated
"Adulterate" is the verb meaning to make something impure, while "adulterated" is the adjective describing the thing that has been made impure.
"Adultery" refers to voluntary sexual infidelity in marriage, whereas "adulterated" describes a substance made impure; both share the same Latin root but have entirely different meanings.