Standard Lemma guide

inquinate

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈɪnkwɪneɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To pollute or make dirty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: formal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: assoil, befoul, sully, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth, begrime, beray, beshit, besmear, besmirch, besully, bewray, blacken, blot, blur, clat, contaminate, darken, defile, dirten, dirty, elt, file, foil, foul, gunk, gunk up, inquinate, scunge, sling mud, slotter, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, smut, smutch, soil, soss, sowl, spot, stain, sullow, tarnish, uggle

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin inquināre (“polluting”).

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: tahria — to pollute or make dirty
  • Finnish: tahrata — to pollute or make dirty
  • Russian: засорять (zasorjatʹ) — to pollute or make dirty
  • Russian: загрязнять (zagrjaznjatʹ) — to pollute or make dirty
  • Spanish: contaminar — to pollute or make dirty