taint
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
taints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tainted,
past participle, past
-
tainting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
taints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tainted,
past participle, past
-
tainting
present participle
noun
verb
-
to affect or be affected by pollution or contamination
oil has tainted the water
-
to tarnish (someone's reputation, etc)
noun
-
a defect or flaw
a taint on someone's reputation
-
a trace of contamination or infection
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
taintsimple
-
taintssimple
-
have taintedperfect
-
has taintedperfect
-
am taintingprogressive
-
are taintingprogressive
-
is taintingprogressive
-
have been taintingperfect progressive
-
has been taintingperfect progressive
Past
-
taintedsimple
-
had taintedperfect
-
was taintingprogressive
-
were taintingprogressive
-
had been taintingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of taint1
First recorded in 1325–75; conflation of Middle English taynt, shortened variant of attaint “struck, attainted,” past participle of attainten “to convict” ( see attaint), late Middle English taynt “hue, tint” ( see tint), from Anglo-French teint or directly from Latin tinctus, equivalent to ting(ere) “to dye, color“ ( see tinge) + -tus suffix of verb action); and teinte, from Late Latin tincta “inked stroke,” noun use of feminine of past participle of tingere
Origin of taint2
First recorded in 1955–60; casual pronunciation of it ain’t (the one or the other), i.e., it is the area in between
Explanation
Taint means to contaminate. If you don’t want to taint your drinking water, don’t use an old gas can as a water pitcher. Tainting something makes it impure. To taint something is to spoil or corrupt it, whether it’s water, food, or even a person’s soul. These days, taint gets in the news if a company accidentally taints meat with salmonella bacteria, for example. If you add something poisonous to a substance, you taint it. A silly person might say when you taint something, t’aint right.
Vocabulary lists containing taint
Metaphors from Top AP English Exam Novels
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Monster
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I am sure your family and business partners will learn about you and your misdeeds from these interviews and will provide exposure that will taint your record forever,” she wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026
Trying to deal with Iraq would also consume the last years of George W Bush's presidency and taint his legacy, reshaping American politics.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026
He also voiced concern that the draft lottery debate could "negatively taint the whole effort".
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2025
In doing so, they become less compelling and less likely to taint your interpretations of future interactions.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2025
Now it has taken on the taint of meaninglessness.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
He’d lost around 1,000 records during that incident, as wildfire smoke, like mold, taints the thick paper board album covers, rendering them toxic over prolonged periods of exposure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2025
“Where is the line between an ethical lapse or a political misjudgment and something that kind of taints this office?” he asked.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2024
This anthropological ethnic elitism was a common underpinning feature of much 19th-century archaeology and taints aspects of some of the speculation regarding American Vikings in the 21st century.
From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2023
Anything that taints their preconceived notion of how they should be.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2023
As if having a sofa in a house on the ground taints its history in a house up in the sky.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw’s May decision to dismiss an indictment against Abrego Garcia after he found it was a blatantly tainted investigation “with a vindictive motive.”
From Slate ● Aug. 23, 2026
Swaths of stubborn flies bother his mechanics as they work, and he’s had to redo paint jobs and clear coats tainted by the thick dust from the warehouse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
She said he had lost 11 of her 18 hectares in a wildfire, and didn't want to spend any money on harvesting surviving vines if the wine would be tainted.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
SINGAPORE—Myanmar’s tainted pro-democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, met with a Red Cross official on Monday, offering evidence that the former leader is alive despite concerns from her supporters about her health.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Any remaining trace of excitement for the show had been tainted by my lunch with Anna May.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Overturning Balogun’s red card has rankled even some American soccer fans, who see the intervention as tainting a U.S. run that had been gathering momentum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
While none of the investigations target the president, Brazilians' weariness with corruption "ends up tainting those in power," Edinho Silva, head of the Workers' Party, lamented.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
"You're sort of tainting your offer if you go into a spat," she said.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
Witness intimidation is a bigger problem than tainting the jury pool.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
Petey didn’t want to think about that party, didn’t want to think about the crickets, didn’t want that humiliating night spilling over, tainting this one or any other.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
