tainted

American  

[teyn-tid] / ˈteɪn tɪd /

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.

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

• untainted
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of tainted

taint ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

If something's tainted, it's ruined or spoiled. If you leave milk on the counter overnight, it could be tainted. But a charity that uses its funds to buy board members tropical vacations could also be considered tainted. The adjective tainted describes a person or thing that's been touched by rot or corruption. Many think that young minds can become morally tainted by violence on TV. If evidence at a crime scene is handled improperly, it could be considered tainted and can't be used at trial. You've probably heard about foods like spinach and peanut butter being recalled because they have been potentially tainted with salmonella.

Example Sentences

Both of those franchises suffered artistically for this move, their legacies forever tainted by it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

Even if it’s deeply cruel to have dragged Gellar, Zhao and millions of fans’ hopes out this far, the “Buffy” legacy has been tainted enough as it is by Joss Whedon’s fingerprints.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

"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 • Mar. 25, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

Any remaining trace of excitement for the show had been tainted by my lunch with Anna May.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

• contaminated
• corrupted
• dirty
• infected
• polluted
• rotten