Meaning & use
dilutable
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Able to be made weaker or thinner by adding water or another liquid.
Grammar: Used mainly in technical writing about liquids, paints, and medicines; it describes what can be done to a substance.
Patterns
- dilutable with something
- easily dilutable
This paint is water-dilutable, so you can thin it with tap water.
The concentrate is dilutable with either milk or water.
Chemists prefer dilutable formulas because the dosage is easy to adjust.
adjectivenot comparableformalfigurative
Able to be made less strong or less severe in effect.
Grammar: A figurative use found in business and formal writing, usually before a noun.
Patterns
- dilutable shares
- a dilutable effect
The board worried that the new shares were dilutable, weakening existing owners' stakes.
Analysts called the penalty a dilutable risk rather than a permanent one.
Common combinations
- water-dilutable
- Choose a water-dilutable varnish for indoor work.
- dilutable concentrate
- A bottle of dilutable concentrate makes five liters of juice.
- dilutable with water
- The cleaner is dilutable with water at a ratio of one to ten.
- easily dilutable
- This syrup is easily dilutable, even in cold drinks.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mixable
- Broader: it means two things can be combined, while dilutable specifically means one liquid can be weakened by another.
- thinnable
- Close in the paint and coating trade, but it stresses making something less thick rather than less concentrated.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: dilutable or delutable? dilutable or diluted?
dilutable vs delutable
Not a real word; it is sometimes typed by mistake for dilutable because the sounds are similar.
dilutable vs diluted
Diluted describes something that has already been weakened; dilutable describes something that can be weakened.
Practice
Which sentence uses dilutable correctly?
Choose one answer.
Dilutable is an adjective meaning 'can be made weaker by adding liquid,' so it fits 'is dilutable with cold water.' Option A describes something already weakened, which needs 'diluted'; option C wrongly uses an adjective as a verb; option D wrongly uses it as a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dilutable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.