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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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:
Many mom bloggers, Ms. Wiley tells Ms. Latifi, worried that the incentives that come with monetization would taint their work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
The big difference was they didn’t have the taint of disco.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 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
She was sensible enough to sit out jitterbug numbers and avoid music with a South American taint, and Henry said when she learned to talk and dance at the same time she’d be a hit.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
"These individuals should have no place in our game and collectively we have to take action to punish everyone who taints the sport like this, no matter who they are."
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026
A 2017 study found that human-caused noise, largely from roads, taints nearly two-thirds of America’s protected areas.
From Slate ● May 25, 2024
“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
That authentic silhouette would erase the creep of modernization that taints many rental costumes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 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
Though there are those who think Indigenous cultures must be kept in isolation so that they are not tainted or transformed by outside influences, Valencia believes in preservation through dissemination.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2026
Soviet authorities famously denied a leak of anthrax spores in 1979, blaming tainted meat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Although Allen and the original series’ head writer, Susan Fales-Hill, shaped the show into the version considered a sitcom classic, Bill Cosby’s creator credit tainted its reputation.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026
In a victim impact statement, Morgan's mother Marie Smith said the family now "lives under a shadow", with every major milestone "tainted" without her present.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
It was drizzling, but even if there’d been no clouds the city sky was too tainted with light to show the stars.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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
My rage spills out of me, tainting every move.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
