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)
-
diluted,
past participle, past
-
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
-
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:
Although its overseas operation and 2-nanometer production ramp-up should dilute margins initially, TSMC’s gross margin downside is manageable due to its cross-node leverage, high utilization and yields rates, they say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Many of the Silicon Valley firms that have piled into Anthropic said the timing of Amodei’s push for new, industrywide safety standards makes sense and they weren’t concerned it would dilute interest in the IPO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 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
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
No, this was some dilute, watery version of him.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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 has however other uses in the system, besides that of a nourishing material, as it dilutes our fluids, and lubricates our solids; and on all these accounts a daily supply of it is required.
From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Erasmus Darwin
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
If inflation is high, then the purchasing power of fixed payments is diluted.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Others argued the feature had already been diluted when Bumble introduced "Opening Moves" - a feature allowing women to set a pre-written prompt for men to respond to.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 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
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
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
