Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Diminished in force or effect.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective diluted; containing extra water
  • adjective idiomatic weakened or simplified

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Blauer Heinrich—blue Henry—people called the watered-down milk they’d come to associate with the war, and when the boy drank, he swallowed so hard that Trudi could hear him.

    Stones from the River Ursula Hegi 1994

  • Blauer Heinrich—blue Henry—people called the watered-down milk they’d come to associate with the war, and when the boy drank, he swallowed so hard that Trudi could hear him.

    Stones from the River Ursula Hegi 1994

  • Blauer Heinrich—blue Henry—people called the watered-down milk they’d come to associate with the war, and when the boy drank, he swallowed so hard that Trudi could hear him.

    Stones from the River Ursula Hegi 1994

  • Blauer Heinrich—blue Henry—people called the watered-down milk they’d come to associate with the war, and when the boy drank, he swallowed so hard that Trudi could hear him.

    Stones from the River Ursula Hegi 1994

  • Blauer Heinrich—blue Henry—people called the watered-down milk they’d come to associate with the war, and when the boy drank, he swallowed so hard that Trudi could hear him.

    Stones from the River Ursula Hegi 1994

  • Though often criticized as offering a “watered-down” version of Christianity, Warren dismisses this critique.

    American Grace Robert D. Putnam 2010

  • Maybe someone should ask Olympia Snowe whether she would vote for a bill with watered-down protection for pre-existing conditions.

    Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » Negotiating Against Themselves 2010

  • It's the danger of indulging Hollywood with a cuddly, watered-down version of Ricky Gervais, who keeps it in its comfort zone.

    Danny Groner: Ricky Gervais' Defenders Around the World Danny Groner 2011

  • It's the danger of indulging Hollywood with a cuddly, watered-down version of Ricky Gervais, who keeps it in its comfort zone.

    Danny Groner: Ricky Gervais' Defenders Around the World Danny Groner 2011

  • I absolutely loved the book, but the adaptation tried so hard to be faithful to the source that it ended up a watered-down, incomprehensible mess.

    Who botches the Watchmen? 2009

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