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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

pollute.

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

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/pəˈluːt//pəˈljuːt/
  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. 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.
  3. To corrupt or profane

  4. To violate sexually; to debauch; to dishonour.

  5. to flatulate.

    Nigeria · slang
Where this word comes from

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

adj/pəˈluːt//pəˈljuːt/
  1. Polluted; defiled.

    rare
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.