dilute
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
adjective
verb
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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
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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:
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
This discount effectively freezes Strategy’s ability to issue new common shares to buy more bitcoin because doing so would dilute existing shareholders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
“When I tried to dilute it into the purest essence,” she says, “it felt like safety.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
“We have to dilute the poison until the nymphs are cleansed.”
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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 aren’t usually happy when a company sells stock to raise money, because it dilutes the holdings of current shareholders by reducing the percentage of the company that those shareholders own.
From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026
But even that movie dilutes Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel to a fraction of its story, reducing all of the text’s thematic resonance to a footnote along with it.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 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 dilutes the blood, thus creating an abnormal condition in the circulatory system, and may raise the pressure of blood and dilate the heart.
From No Animal Food and Nutrition and Diet with Vegetable Recipes by Wheldon, Rupert H.
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
Researchers plan to use it to study the electronic properties of atomically thin materials, nanostructures, and highly diluted atomic and molecular samples.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026
The analysts increase their forecasts for adjusted diluted earnings per share and margins over the next three years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 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
If those desirable mutants proceeded to interbreed with normal plants, the mutation would immediately be diluted or lost.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
