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 ¹.

Other Word Forms

• un·taint·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tainted¹

taint ¹( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

Additionally, the agency redacted the names of all firms and companies that handled and processed the tainted lettuce.

From Salon

There was a purity within us as young creators — we hadn’t been tainted by the world in a way, so it was like we could trust our gut.

From Los Angeles Times

This is just one witness in a case which Jagtar's legal representatives from Reprieve say is characterised by unreliable, even tainted, testimony.

From BBC

The woman said she was "disgusted" by Stewart, a grandfather who had worked for Royal Mail for 22 years, and he had "tainted lives".

From BBC

“The whole campaign for that movie was about championing human creativity, so when that came out, it felt a little tainted,” one Oscar voter told me recently.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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