pollution

noun

Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc.

Something that pollutes; a pollutant.

Moral or spiritual corruption; impurity, degradation, defilement.

(now rare) The desecration of something holy or sacred; defilement, profanation.

(now archaic) The ejaculation of semen outside of sexual intercourse, especially a nocturnal emission.

Roots

luollut- · Latin · soil, defile

Synonyms for pollution

contaminationn defilementn befoulingv dirtyingn soilingn noxiousnessn poisoningn

Synonyms & related words for pollution

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of pollution — including contamination, defilement, befouling, dirtying, soiling, noxiousness. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to pollution

Explore words related to pollution — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include pollutants, polluting, antipollution, polluter, recontamination, polluted, contaminant, pollutes. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for pollution

Common synonyms for pollution include contamination, defilement, befouling, dirtying, soiling, noxiousness, poisoning — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does pollution come from?

The word pollution breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root llut-, from Latin luo (“soil, defile”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.