water down
Make less potent
To water down is to dilute with water, weakening a drink's strength or flavor: The bartender watered down the whiskey.
More often figurative—to soften or weaken something to make it more palatable or less controversial: They watered down the proposal to get it past the committee.
The adjective watered-down describes the result: a watered-down version of the original plan.
Weaken by stealth
- compromiseAgreement through mutual sacrifice
- erodeDiminish through persistent friction
- diluteReduce by adding solvent
- enfeebleMake feeble or frail
sap · impair · degrade · diminish · vitiate · devalue · lessen · reduce
Lessen intensity or preside
cushion · ease · restrain · qualify · hedge · blunt · dull · attenuate
undermine
Weaken by stealth
- compromiseAgreement through mutual sacrifice
- erodeDiminish through persistent friction
- diluteReduce by adding solvent
enfeeble · sap · impair · degrade · diminish · vitiate · devalue · lessen · reduce · sabotage
moderate
Lessen intensity or preside
gentle · cushion · ease · restrain · qualify · hedge · blunt · dull · attenuate · diminish
dilution
Reduction in concentration
cut · extend · mix · concentrate · ratio · dissolve · juice · drink · solution · pour
sanitize
Cleanse of pathogens
- bowdlerizeRemove objectionable content
- expurgateRemove offensive material
- editModify written material
redact · clean up · soften · modify · alter · revise · amend · adjust · filter · scrub
- sugarcoatingsweeten, soften, gloss over, whitewash, soft-pedal
- reduce/lessenreduce, shrink, lessen, decrease, diminish
- softensoften, dampen, mute, muffle, moderate
- deletiondelete, erase, erasure, cross out, strike out
- deterioratedecay, rot, deteriorate, decompose, corrode
- Reduceshrink, diminish, decrease, lessen, reduce