adulterate
/əˈdʌltəɹət/
"adulterate" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“adulterate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Corrupted or made impure by being mixed with something else; adulterated.
Corpus desk
Index EN-adulterate · adulterate · English
adulterate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | adulterate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əˈdʌltəɹət/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “adulterate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
adulterate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /əˈdʌltəɹət/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
adulterate doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin adulterātus (“adulterate, adulterated, defiled, polluted, counterfeited”), perfect passive participle of adulterō (“to adulterate, defile, commit adultery (with), counterfeit”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to, in the directio… The correct English form is adulterate, spelled A-D-U-L-T-E-R-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1Corrupted or made impure by being mixed with something else; adulterated.
- 2Tending to commit adultery; relating to or being the product of adultery; adulterous.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how adulterate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Theſe, and other like places in abundance through all thoſe ſhort Epiſtles, muſt either be adulterat, or elſe Ignatius [of Antioch] was not Ignatius, nor a Martyr, but moſt adulterate, and corrupt himſelf.
I am poſſeſt with an adulterate blot, / My bloud is mingled with the crime of luſt: [...]
Etymology
From Latin adulterātus (“adulterate, adulterated, defiled, polluted, counterfeited”), perfect passive participle of adulterō (“to adulterate, defile, commit adultery (with), counterfeit”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to, in the direction of”) + alter (“other”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), literally “to go after someone else”. Equivalent to adultery + -ate.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.