contaminated

The word “contaminated” means made impure or unsafe by the presence of a harmful or unwanted substance. In plain terms, dirty or unsafe because something harmful has gotten into it.

Here is “contaminated” used in a sentence: “The beach was closed after the water tested contaminated.”

Words with a similar meaning to “contaminated” include adulterated, common, corrupted, mixed, polluted and sophisticated.

The opposite of “contaminated” — its antonyms — are pure and raw.

“Contaminated” is an adjective.

“Contaminated” is an uncommon word in modern English.

Dirty simply means unclean or covered in grime, while contaminated specifically means made impure or unsafe by a harmful or unwanted substance, such as a chemical, pathogen, or radioactive material. Something can be dirty without being dangerous, but contaminated implies a real risk to health or safety.

Yes, contaminated is often used figuratively to describe data, evidence, or a sample that has been corrupted by an outside influence, such as contaminated crime scene evidence or a contaminated research dataset. In these cases it still carries the core sense of being made impure or unreliable by an unwanted factor.

Common contaminants include bacteria and other pathogens, chemicals, toxins, radioactive material, and pollutants. The word applies whenever a harmful or unwanted substance is introduced into food, water, air, soil, or another substance, making it impure or unsafe.