See Also: vitiate(1)(dictionary)
vitiate(2)(dictionary)
vitiate(dictionary)

vitiate(2) (iou)



vitiate verb trans. M16.
[Latin vitiat- pa. ppl stem of vitiare, from vitium VICE noun1: see -ATE3.]
Make incomplete, imperfect, or faulty; mar or spoil the quality of. Also, impair the purity of (a language) or the correctness of (a text). M16.
S. Beckett Lunch was a ritual vitiated by no base thoughts of nutrition. M. Frayn The information that spies steal is..vitiated by the possibility that its sources are corrupt.
Corrupt morally; deprave; lower the moral standard of. M16.
George Eliot This vitiating effect of an offence against his own sentiment of right. J. S. Mill Moral beliefs..have been vitiated..by the absence of any distinct recognition of an ultimate standard.
b. Pervert or debase (the eye, taste, etc.). E19.
Deprive (a woman) of her virginity; violate. M16-L18.
Contaminate the substance of; make bad, impure, or defective; esp. make (air) polluted and unfit for breathing. L16.
S. Cooper Deleterious kinds of food, such as the ergot or vitiated rye. Guardian The poisoned waters and vitiated air.
Invalidate; make ineffectual; spec. destroy or impair the legal validity or force of. E17.
G. Will Giving government..rights to involvement in business decisions, thereby vitiating the rights of the real owners. Vanity Fair The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia didn't immediately vitiate the resistance movement.
b. Make (an argument etc.) inconclusive or unsatisfactory. M18.
R. G. Collingwood Their theorizing..is apt to be vitiated by weakness in its foundation of fact.
viti'ation noun M17.
vitiator noun (rare) M19.