tainted
Americanadjective
-
infected, contaminated, corrupted, or spoiled.
An outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to eating tainted ground turkey has resulted in several deaths.
-
affected by a trace of something bad, offensive, or harmful.
We strongly urge you to distance your charitable organization from this discredited project and its tainted money.
-
(of the name, reputation, etc., of a person or group) sullied or tarnished.
Having such a program available to these students could help fix the tainted reputation many feel our school has earned.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of tainted
Explanation
If something's tainted, it's ruined or spoiled. If you leave milk on the counter overnight, it could be tainted. But a charity that uses its funds to buy board members tropical vacations could also be considered tainted. The adjective tainted describes a person or thing that's been touched by rot or corruption. Many think that young minds can become morally tainted by violence on TV. If evidence at a crime scene is handled improperly, it could be considered tainted and can't be used at trial. You've probably heard about foods like spinach and peanut butter being recalled because they have been potentially tainted with salmonella.
Vocabulary lists containing tainted
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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.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting 21 million copies worldwide.
From BBC • Oct. 23, 2025
Andy Evans, of campaign group Tainted Blood, told reporters that he and others “felt like we were shouting into the wind during the last 40 years.”
From Seattle Times • May 20, 2024
“When polio vaccine backfired / Tainted batches killed 10 and paralyzed 164,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 2005.
From Slate • Sep. 28, 2023
Tainted water and soil and dirty indoor air put Chad, the Central African Republic and Niger as the three countries with the most pollution-related deaths, according to data adjusted for population.
From Reuters • May 17, 2022
Tainted or not, in that way—he was mentally tainted, a fact beside which the other, if as true as Truth, paled into utterest insignificance.
From Snake and Sword A Novel by Wren, Percival Christopher
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.
