Synonyms

tainted

American

[teyn-tid] / ˈteɪn tɪd /

adjective

infected, contaminated, corrupted, or spoiled.

An outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to eating tainted ground turkey has resulted in several deaths.
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.
(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

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.

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Vocabulary lists containing tainted

Dear Martin

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Spivey’s family believes the investigation was tainted from the start.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 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

“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

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

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2026

Our whole relationship has been tainted by the Games.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023