WATERING DOWN Synonyms: 67 Similar and Opposite Words

watering down

verb

present participle of water down

as in diluting

to alter (something) for the worse with the addition of foreign or lower-grade substances watered down the cocktails while jacking up their prices

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Recent Examples of watering down But Reeves and Starmer faced criticism for some of their fiscal policies, such as increasing National Insurance — a kind of tax on employment — for businesses, and watering down welfare reforms to appease backbench lawmakers. — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 21 July 2026 Asking for sportsbook revenue while simultaneously watering down the product and coddling rule-breakers with minor-league rehab is a terrible look. — Geoff Clark Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 June 2026 These rules have already been subject to watering down proposals. — Neil Winton, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026 But the most basic reforms seem to require years of discussion and back-and-forth and watering down. — David Frum, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026 Dress the salad right before serving to prevent the melon and cucumbers from watering down the vinaigrette. — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 23 May 2026 But watering down safe Republican seats in a tough year for the incumbent party, could backfire, some have predicted. — Alexandra Glorioso, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2026 Name, image and likeness money is pulling guys with borderline first-round grades back to school, which is watering down the top of each class. — Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026 Trump blinked, pausing and watering down many of those tariffs in response to extreme market pressure. — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 2 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for watering down

Verb

Notably, the new action comes about a month after UMG had sued DistroKid in September, claiming the company has helped empower bad actors to upload AI slop songs at mass scale, diluting the royalty pool for genuine artists.

— Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026
The second works by blending a more modest 5 percent of next-gen fiber across high-volume production, diluting the price premium and making the material more accessible for mid-size brands or companies.

— Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of diluting

Verb

Storyteller experiments with some next-generation convertible furniture designs to make the new van even more versatile and better equipped for loading up gear.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 15 Oct. 2026
Russian diesel exports loading from the Baltic port of Primorsk resumed on Tuesday, with a tanker carrying around 40,000 metric tons of ultra-low sulphur diesel heading towards Morocco, according to LSEG data reported by Reuters on Wednesday.

— Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of loading

Verb

Upgrading to the Thrust Variant requires a $245,000 follow-up payment and adds SpaceX cold-gas rear thrusters alongside an active multi-mode fan system for downforce, cutting acceleration down to under a second.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2026
And by cutting China off, Washington gave Beijing every reason to build its own alternatives.

— Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of cutting

Verb

This means the development of new clean energy sources will provide greater financial benefits to families rather than polluting, expensive, and outdated sources of energy like oil and gas.

— Sanya Carley, Time, 7 Oct. 2026
Many off-grid communities have long relied on costly, polluting diesel generators.

— ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of polluting

Verb

Guaifenesin may help relieve chest congestion by thinning mucus in your airways, says Reed.

— Andee Tagle, NPR, 15 Oct. 2026
Economists and executives warned of thinning global oil buffers, with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine piling pressure on the energy supply chain.

— Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of thinning

Verb

Eventually, the capability could enable computer worms, which propagate without requiring human interaction and are capable of infecting unfamiliar IoT devices.

— Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 14 Oct. 2026
That includes Memory Integrity protection, which uses hardware-dependent methods to prevent malware from infecting OS processes.

— Chris Hoffman, PC Magazine, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of infecting

Browse Nearby Words

watering cans

watering down

watering hole

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“Watering down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watering%20down. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of watering down

verb

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