Meaning & use
taint
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A small sign of something bad or shameful that spoils the reputation or quality of something otherwise good.
Grammar: Often a singular noun with of: a taint of scandal.
Patterns
- a taint of something
- the taint of something
The mayor could not shake off the taint of corruption.
There was a faint taint of smoke in the otherwise clean air.
Winning the medal left a taint on his career once the cheating came out.
verbtransitive
To spoil the purity, quality, or good name of something by contact with something harmful or shameful.
Grammar: Takes an object: the rumor tainted her name.
Patterns
- taint something
- something is tainted by something
Pollution from the factory tainted the river water.
One bad review should not taint the whole restaurant's reputation.
The election was tainted by claims of vote buying.
Word forms
| plural | taints |
|---|---|
| third person singular | taints |
| past tense | tainted |
| past participle | tainted |
| -ing form | tainting |
Common combinations
- taint of scandal
- The taint of scandal followed the company for years.
- taint the evidence
- Careless handling could taint the evidence.
- tainted blood
- The hospital was sued over tainted blood supplies.
- taint someone's reputation
- Those lies could taint her reputation.
- tainted food
- The market destroyed all tainted food.
- free of taint
- The vote was free of any taint.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stain
- Stain is usually used for a lasting mark on a reputation, whereas taint can also mean a mild contamination you can barely notice.
- contaminate
- Contaminate is more technical and suggests physical pollution, while taint is often moral or reputational.
- tarnish
- Tarnish suggests dulling something that once shone, mostly used for reputations.
- blemish
- A blemish is a visible flaw, while a taint is a hidden or spreading badness.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: taint or tent?
taint vs tent
Tent sounds a bit similar but means a shelter of fabric; it has nothing to do with spoiling.
Practice
Choose the best word: 'The scandal began to ___ the senator's otherwise spotless career.'
Choose one answer.
Taint means to spoil a good name. Taunt means to mock someone, which does not fit an object like career, and tame and tent do not fit the meaning at all.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “taint”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.