contaminado

contaminated

adjective kon-tah-mee-NAH-doh Rare

Also means

polluted

Usage Note

Contaminado describes anything that has been made impure by an external agent — water, soil, air, or even a sample in a lab. The feminine form is contaminada. It is the past participle of contaminar, so it also appears in compound tenses: el río ha quedado contaminado. Learners should not confuse it with infectado, which implies a biological pathogen specifically.

Examples

"El agua del río está contaminada."

Natural Translation

The river water is contaminated.

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