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 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.

From 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.

From Los Angeles Times

Vaccine opponents even falsely claim that vaccines contain the cells of aborted fetuses, an explicit reminder of their belief that children are being tainted by the wanton sexualities of modern women.

From Salon

Gbagbo's reputation for activism and democracy has been tainted, but she is still seen as one of the strongest challengers to Ouattara in next month's poll.

From BBC

It was ultimately left out of the trial, but he believes Erin Patterson had been trying to kill him with tainted food for years, and had almost succeeded on several occasions.

From BBC

Related Words

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