dilute
Americanverb (used with object)
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dilutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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diluted,
past participle, past
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diluting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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dilutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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diluted,
past participle, past
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diluting
present participle
adjective
verb
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to make or become less concentrated, esp by adding water or a thinner
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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:
Grindr expects the deal to immediately add to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, but that it might initially dilute combined Ebitda margins as the company invests in scaling Freddie’s U.S. operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
But don’t let the relatable career-girl pluck of the movie dilute the fact that this song is pissed off about capitalism, even as its hooks make the grind of working life more bearable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
For the Ga Mantse, admitting fault does not dilute the guilt of European empires; rather, it solidifies Africa's moral standing and sets an example as to how to move forward.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
When the wine was of poor quality or the weather hot, soldiers would dilute -- or "spritzen" or spray in German -- their drink with sparkling water.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
The room was dense with awkwardness, and Ifemelu, as though to dilute it, once again examined her hair in the mirror, patting it lightly as she turned this way and that.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Unfortunately, the way Mr. Iñárritu stages the scene, with Digger getting shouted down from all corners, dilutes the power of his substantially sound argument.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 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
Led by Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall and featuring a quirky cast of characters, Peacock’s horror-comedy mystery series dilutes some the suspense but it’s still a good time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 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
No disinfectant can reach such a cause of disease save the action of the large volume of water which dilutes all poisonous materials.
From The Johnstown Horror!!! or, Valley of Death, being A Complete and Thrilling Account of the Awful Floods and Their Appalling Ruin by James Herbert Walker
Instead, once the predictable sound and fury had been diluted by City's composure and the swift realisation they were not unnerved by Anfield or the storm raging around the club, this was a surreal experience.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Share buybacks can lower a company’s diluted share count and raise its earnings per share.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Everything has a chance to mingle before the soup gets diluted.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Culture evolves, she says, and practices can be diluted or corrupted and she is showing what has happened to this one.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
He pulled back what I understood then to be drapes, and swatches of sky diluted the dark with soft moonlight.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
Global connection came with a kind of dispersion, diluting shared connections closer to home while allowing for worldwide discovery.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Making Shakespeare’s plays accessible is a noble goal, but there are other ways to go about this beyond modernizing the text and diluting its lyrical beauty and nuance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
Experts say the test for Airbnb going forward will be driving growth in its travel offerings without diluting the “travel like a local” identity that brought the company to prominence.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
The move solves an immediate headache by covering Strategy’s preferred dividend obligations, but it does so through the painful, if familiar, route of diluting common shareholders.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 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.
