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

But Houlihan, 32, no longer blames tainted meat, saying she isn’t sure what caused her failed test.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Prospective employers sometimes see applicants who’ve been out of work for a while as tainted, assuming they would have been hired sooner if they were good candidates.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

In 2023, Indian syrups tainted with diethylene glycol were linked to the deaths of 70 children in The Gambia and 18 in Uzbekistan.

Read more on BBC

But the next time one of these entertainers deflects criticism from behind a free speech shield, we should remember what Dillon said about why he and the others accepted this tainted offer.

Read more on Salon

She said she was disturbed to learn some of the claims may have been tainted by fraud and expected the county would receive tough questions about how the lawsuits were vetted.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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