unadulterated
unadulterated — adjective
- unadulteratedpositive
- more unadulteratedcomparative
- most unadulteratedsuperlative
1. describing a substance or product that has had nothing else added to it and is t
describing a substance or product that has had nothing else added to it and is therefore in its purest possible form.
Honey from that farm is unadulterated — no sugar or syrup has been mixed in.
unadulterated + food product for 'pure, nothing added'
Maeve drinks unadulterated coconut water straight from the fruit, not the sweetened kind.
The label said the olive oil was pure, but tests found it was not unadulterated.
Buy unadulterated wool from a local farm and you get fabric with no synthetic fibres.
- pure
the more common, everyday word; 'pure' can describe both naturally clean things and those that have been refined, while 'unadulterated' stresses that nothing foreign has ever been added
- untainted
more figurative — often describes reputation, character, or air/water that has not been corrupted; 'unadulterated' is more concrete about physical mixtures
- uncontaminated
focuses on the absence of harmful or unwanted substances; 'unadulterated' emphasises deliberate addition rather than accidental pollution
- adulterated
the direct opposite — something with inferior substances added deliberately
- impure
broader than adulterated; can include natural impurities as well as deliberate additions
用法筆記
Subject is usually a natural product or raw material — foods (honey, olive oil), fabrics (wool, cotton), or natural elements (water, air). Frequently contrasted with adulterated or processed alternatives.
常見錯誤
2. used for emphasis to mean that a quality, feeling, or type of behaviour is prese
used for emphasis to mean that a quality, feeling, or type of behaviour is present in its strongest possible degree, with nothing to reduce its force.
Yael felt unadulterated joy — pure happiness with no worry mixed in.
common collocation: unadulterated joy / pleasure / delight
The documentary was an hour of unadulterated nonsense that wasted everyone's time.
Watching the children finally meet their cousins brought Lucas unadulterated delight.
The crowd responded with unadulterated anger to the senator's speech.
Critics called the new restaurant an unadulterated disaster — cold food and rude service.
- sheer
the most common intensifier for abstract nouns; 'sheer' is less formal and more conversational than 'unadulterated'
- utter
used almost exclusively with negative nouns (utter disaster, utter nonsense); 'unadulterated' works with both positive and negative
- absolute
broadest of the intensifiers but feels less dramatic than 'unadulterated' because of overuse
- partial
if something is partial, it is incomplete or mixed — the opposite of total emphasis
- half-hearted
describes feelings or efforts that are weak and divided, contrasting with the full-strength quality of 'unadulterated'
用法筆記
Almost always modifies abstract nouns with a strong evaluative charge — either positive (joy, delight, pleasure, bliss) or negative (nonsense, disaster, anger, bullshit). Rarely used with neutral or mild nouns.