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

Recalling a "very difficult time" that tainted her experience of the Games, Sharp made clear her hope that the IOC would go on to introduce the kind of universal approach that it now has.

From BBC

It sucks because then when you listen to their music or you watch their movies, the experience is tainted.

From Los Angeles Times

"It was very much a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and unfortunately, it had to be tainted by what was happening behind closed doors," she said.

From BBC

“Those one and a half hours tainted everything we did, and so much of what we did was original research.”

From Los Angeles Times

But "it is hard to tell whether they would now believe she is too tainted," said Max Goldbart, international TV editor at Deadline.

From BBC

Related Words

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