taint

¹ American  

[teynt] / teɪnt /

noun

1. a trace of something bad, offensive, or harmful.

   Synonyms:

   stain, blemish, spot, fault, flaw, defect

2. a trace of infection, contamination, or the like.

3. a trace of dishonor or discredit.

4. Obsolete. color; tint.

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verb (used with object)

1. to modify by or as if by a trace of something offensive or deleterious.

2. to infect, contaminate, corrupt, or spoil.

   Synonyms:

   poison, pollute, defile

3. to sully or tarnish (a person's name, reputation, etc.).

   Synonyms:

   stain, dishonor

4. Obsolete. to color or tint.

verb (used without object)

1. to become tainted; spoil.

taint ² American  

Or t'aint

noun

Slang: Vulgar.

1. the area between the testicles or vulva and the anus; the perineum.

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taint British  

/ teɪnt /

verb

1. to affect or be affected by pollution or contamination

   oil has tainted the water

2. to tarnish (someone's reputation, etc)

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noun

1. a defect or flaw

   a taint on someone's reputation

2. a trace of contamination or infection

Other Word Forms

• taintless adjective
• untainting adjective

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” ( attaint ), late Middle English taynt “hue, tint” ( tint ), from Anglo-French teint or directly from Latin tinctus, equivalent to ting(ere) “to dye, color“ ( 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

Example Sentences

Leo came to Scotland excited to meet new friends and settle into a calm routine far from the chaos that tainted his home life before.

From BBC

Research shows that executives are tainted when their companies fail.

From The Wall Street Journal

While the store’s events are often bursting with energy, those moments are still tainted by an “underlying fear that is kind of like a dark cloud among our community,” Lima said.

From Los Angeles Times

"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

Prosecutors in Paris will seek to establish whether the baby formula producers are liable for distributing a tainted product.

From BBC

Related Words

• besmirch
• blight
• cloud
• corrupt
• damage
• discredit
• harm
• hurt
• infect
• muddy
• poison
• pollute
• smear
• spoil
• stain
• sully
• tar
• tarnish