vitiate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to impair the quality of; make faulty; spoil.
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to impair or weaken the effectiveness of.
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to make legally defective or invalid; invalidate.
to vitiate a claim.
verb
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to make faulty or imperfect
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to debase, pervert, or corrupt
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to destroy the force or legal effect of (a deed, etc)
to vitiate a contract
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonvitiationnoun
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vitiationnoun
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vitiableadjective
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vitiatornoun
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unvitiatedadjective
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unvitiatingadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have vitiatedperfect
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has vitiatedperfect 3rd person singular
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are vitiatingprogressive
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am vitiatingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been vitiatingperfect progressive
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vitiatessingular 3rd person
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vitiatingparticiple
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has been vitiatingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is vitiatingprogressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had vitiatedperfect
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had been vitiatingperfect progressive
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were vitiatingprogressive plural
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vitiatedsimple
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vitiatedparticiple
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was vitiatingprogressive singular
Future
Etymology
Origin of vitiate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin vitiātus, past participle of vitiāre “to spoil, impair,” derivative of vitium “blemish, defect, fault” + -ātus; see vice 1, -ate 1
Explanation
As some sneaky five-year-olds know, crossing one’s fingers while making a promise is an effective way to vitiate, or destroy the validity of, an agreement. Vitiate is often used when a legal agreement is made invalid, but it can also refer to the debasement or corruption of something or someone. If a malicious five-year-old on the playground teaches the other children to lie with their fingers crossed, she would be responsible for vitiating the playground community. The first syllable of this word is pronounced "vish," like the first syllable in vicious.
Vocabulary lists containing vitiate
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "V"
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On the Origin of Species
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Vitiate not this gift with the lower thought of the art of singing.
From Sixty Years of California Song by Alverson, Margaret Blake
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
