tainted

[teyn-tid]

adjective

1. infected, contaminated, corrupted, or spoiled.

   An outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to eating tainted ground turkey has resulted in several deaths.

2. 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.

3. (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

1. the simple past tense and past participle of taint.

Other Word Forms

• untainted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tainted¹

taint ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

The first captivates via a young man’s earnest effusiveness; the second’s effusiveness, tainted by lovelorn glum, deepens.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Back then people believed that one drop of Black blood tainted the “superior race,” but having White blood made you “better.”

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The UK Foreign Office has added a further 11 countries to its list warning of the risks of methanol poisoning from tainted alcoholic drinks.

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“This kid is real. He’s not jaded or tainted by anything yet. And to Netflix’s credit, they took a chance on him.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Even a tainted winner gets initial buzz and can change standards for competition.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• contaminated www.thesaurus.com
• corrupted www.thesaurus.com
• dirty 
• infected www.thesaurus.com
• polluted 
• rotten