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

By doing so, however, the Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter averted a certain controversy and cries that his accomplishment was tainted.

From Los Angeles Times

The jury for her joint trial with Sollecito was never sequestered, guaranteeing the barrage of outrageous fallacies surrounding the proceedings tainted their judgment.

From Salon

The former first minster had already successfully taken legal action against the government in 2019 over its mishandling of complaints against him, with the probe ruled to be "tainted with apparent bias".

From BBC

In 2019, a judicial review concluded that the Scottish government's investigation into Salmond's alleged misconduct was unlawful, unfair and tainted by apparent bias.

From BBC

In 2019, a judicial review had concluded that the process was unlawful, unfair and tainted by apparent bias.

From BBC

Related Words

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