dilute
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
adjective
verb
-
to make or become less concentrated, esp by adding water or a thinner
-
to make or become weaker in force, effect, etc
he diluted his story
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
diluteenoun
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diluternoun
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dilutornoun
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overdiluteverb
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antidilutiveadjective
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dilutiveadjective
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undiluteadjective
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undilutedadjective
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undilutingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dilutesimple
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dilutessimple
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have dilutedperfect
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has dilutedperfect
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am dilutingprogressive
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are dilutingprogressive
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is dilutingprogressive
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have been dilutingperfect progressive
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has been dilutingperfect progressive
Past
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dilutedsimple
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had dilutedperfect
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was dilutingprogressive
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were dilutingprogressive
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had been dilutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dilute
1545–55; < Latin dīlūtus washed away, dissolved (past participle of dīluere ), equivalent to dī- di- 2 + -lūtus, combining form of lautus ( lav ( ere ) to wash + -tus past participle suffix)
Explanation
When you dilute something, you make it thinner, weaker, or more watered down. If you put lots of ice cubes in your soda, the ice will melt and dilute the drink. Think about diluting as lessening the quality but increasing the quantity. Unless you're diluting a really strong drink to make it taste better or diluting heavy paint to get a lighter shade — then the quality actually improves. Quipped President John F. Kennedy, “Public speaking is the art of diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary.”
Vocabulary lists containing dilute
Word Generation Science - Introductory Chemistry Concepts
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Margaret Chase Smith's "Declaration of Conscience" (1950)
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The Chocolate War
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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.
See Examples For:
Don’t borrow money or buy a slug of bonds just to dilute your stock concentration below the legal thresholds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Honeybees gather pollen from many different flower species, which may dilute contaminants across their food supply.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
But for a fair number of others, the main objection is that Summerween cheapens Halloween — that to celebrate a summer facsimile will dilute the real thing.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
“When I tried to dilute it into the purest essence,” she says, “it felt like safety.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
His goal may have been to dilute the impact of a fallout study released by the National Academy of Sciences.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
In adapting the premise for TV, series creator Nick Antosca dilutes the movies’ naked menace by pouring reasonable doubt into both Max’s profile and that of the Bowdens, the married lawyers behind his downfall.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Only firms in desperate need of cash sell more shares when their valuations are low, because it dilutes existing shareholders and trashes the share price.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Investors in the acquiring companies don’t usually like stock deals, because issuing new shares to fund the purchase dilutes their holdings, meaning they now own a smaller percentage of the company.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 2, 2026
This panoramic sweep lends “The Secret Agent” a novelistic sprawl, although it sometimes dilutes the proceedings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025
It is by no means uncommon to find a really fine passage injured by the addition of a clause which dilutes the idea under pretence of completing it.
From Views and Reviews by James, Henry
In the human digestive system, sweeteners may be absorbed, chemically altered, diluted, or broken down before reaching particular microbes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
That announcement sent shares of Solidion, which has a market value of about $140 million based on fully diluted shares outstanding, up 14.3% in premarket trading at $14.10 a share.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Fears about a diluted field and uncompetitive games have been replaced by a goalfest of a group stage, with all the major stars lighting it up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
By the time Emmet Sheehan took the mound, the smell had diluted, and the sunshine broke through the haze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
Very well then, the juice wrenched from the disinfected skin, and then the pulpy liquid had to be diluted with water if I hoped to make the precious oranges last at all.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Grossi also said on Friday that an alternative to diluting could be shipping the enriched uranium out of Iran.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
At the same time, the rapid rise of third-party delivery apps has flooded the market with alternative options, diluting Pizza Hut's historic dominance.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
But analysts say T-Mobile is constrained on large deals: Its high leverage makes borrowing expensive, and it can’t issue stock without diluting its German parent’s stake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
“Disjointed colors, patterns, and logo-heavy designs are diluting brand equity,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
We could cure Daoud right now, or we could try to save more people—like my parents—by conserving every drop and diluting it....But in doing so, we might end up with nothing.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
