1
as in tainting
to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable
believed that luxury vitiates even the most principled person
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
numerous grammatical errors vitiate the effectiveness of your writing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in degrading
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
a penchant for coarse language vitiates what is otherwise a refined literary style
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vitiating
Verb
-
Now, streaming is tainting the postseason.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
15 Apr. 2026 -
Played by cisgender actress Kathleen Turner, Charles proved to be one of the more divisive characters from Friends, tainting its cultural legacy for some critics.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Wind gusts reached up to 110 mph, damaging homes throughout the city as the storm moved northeast.—
Caroline Zimmerman,
Kansas City Star,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Days of severe storms to come The shift in the weather pattern that sparked Thursday night’s storms will keep the threat level elevated for damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes in the central US into early next week.—
Briana Waxman,
CNN Money,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Some mineral sunscreen manufacturers add UV filters such as butyloctyl salicylic acid and ethylhexyl methoxycrylene to prevent SPF levels from degrading in zinc oxide, which Downs has linked to potential cancer risks and coral toxicity.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Together, these mechanisms prevent the battery’s active materials from degrading or from escaping across the membrane, thereby ensuring long-term stability.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Wilderness guides at Magashi Peninsula are well trained, the accommodation and food spoiling, and the wildlife sightings glorious.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
-
There is no dumber tradition that's come with this insufferable age of social media than spoiling draft picks.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Ancient lava fields can be seen as dark lunar maria marring the silvery lunar surface, which themselves are threaded with bright streaks of reflective debris strewn across the surface by violent asteroid strikes.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The demoralizing graffiti marring the main entrance to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 360 Lenox Ave.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
12 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
An early discussion about social contracts comes down to us in Plato’s dialogue Crito in which Socrates, condemned to death for allegedly corrupting the youth, refused an offer to escape from prison.—
George G. Szpiro,
Big Think,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Meanwhile, the Pima County Sheriff Office investigating Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is facing troubles of its own, as a former sheriff has accused current leadership of ‘corrupting’ the crime scene, and a deputy has been arrested and fired on a kidnapping charge.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The young woman who sojourned to Oberlin College, where she was wrongfully accused of poisoning her classmates and beaten half to death, who raised her hands in defense of herself, then went on to grip clay and rock and chisel to re-create visions of justice.—
Tyehimba Jess,
ARTnews.com,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Protesters, however, say that HERC, which neighbors Target Field near the North Loop neighborhood, is responsible for essentially poisoning people who live nearby.—
Conor Wight,
CBS News,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Based on preliminary data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, more than 110,000 crashes resulted from unsafe speeds, leading to more than 400 deaths and injuring more than 68,000 people, the agency said.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
-
As Sousa-Martins drove forward, another agent shot at him 13 times, injuring Sousa-Martins as well as Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel, a passenger in one of the ICE vehicles who was already in federal custody.—
Lily Carey,
Baltimore Sun,
27 Apr. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Vitiating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vitiating. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
