sophisticating
Making more worldly
Sophisticating is making something more complex, refined, or worldly.
Wine sophisticates a palate; travel sophisticates a perspective.
The word can also mean corrupting or adulterating—sophisticating a product by adding inferior ingredients to stretch it.
Years of diplomacy had the effect of sophisticating her approach to conflict.
Improper interference with something
- corruptingCausing moral decay
- dilutingLessening strength by mixing
- contaminatingMaking something impure
- doctoringAltering deceptively
altering · debasing · tainting · mixing · falsifying · manipulating · compromising · degrading
Refined, graceful quality
- polishSmooth by rubbing
- cultivationFostering growth through care
- enhancementIncrease in quality
- upgradingImproving to superior version
improvement · finessing · elevating · enriching · embellishing · perfecting · honing · developing
Developing in greater detail
- complicatingMaking less straightforward
- nuancingAdding fine distinctions
- layeringForming successive strata
- deepeningBecoming more profound
enriching · intricacy · subtlety · multifaceted · diversifying · expanding · developing · enhancing
tampering
Improper interference with something
- corruptingCausing moral decay
- dilutingLessening strength by mixing
- contaminatingMaking something impure
doctoring · altering · debasing · tainting · mixing · falsifying · manipulating · compromising · degrading · polluting
elegance
Refined, graceful quality
- polishSmooth by rubbing
- cultivationFostering growth through care
- enhancementIncrease in quality
upgrading · improvement · finessing · elevating · enriching · embellishing · perfecting · honing · developing · maturing
elaborating
Developing in greater detail
- complicatingMaking less straightforward
- nuancingAdding fine distinctions
- layeringForming successive strata
deepening · enriching · intricacy · subtlety · multifaceted · diversifying · expanding · developing · enhancing · amplifying
sophisticatingsimplifying
Making less complex
dumbing down · streamlining · reducing · stripping down · paring down
sophisticatingpurifying
Removing unwanted substances
clarifying · refining · restoring · cleansing · naturalizing