- to affect or be affected by pollution or contamination
- to tarnish (someone's reputation, etc)
- a defect or flaw
- a trace of contamination or infection
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
taint /teɪnt/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
v. [~ + object]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a trace of something bad or offensive:a taint of scandal.
- a trace of infection, decay, or contamination.
v. [~ + object]
- to infect, spoil, or contaminate:This meat is tainted.
- to ruin, damage, or spoil (a person's name, etc.):Rumors of bribery tainted his good name.
taint (tānt),USA pronunciation
n.
v.t.
v.i.
- a trace of something bad, offensive, or harmful.
- a trace of infection, contamination, or the like.
- a trace of dishonor or discredit.
- [Obs.]color;
tint.
v.t.
- to modify by or as if by a trace of something offensive or deleterious.
- to infect, contaminate, corrupt, or spoil.
- to sully or tarnish (a person's name, reputation, etc.).
- [Obs.]to color or tint.
v.i.
- to become tainted;
spoil.
- Late Latin tincta inked stroke, noun, nominal use of feminine of past participle of tingere
- Latin tinctus, equivalent. to ting(ere) to dye, tinge + -tus suffix of verb, verbal action); and teinte
- Anglo-French teint (
- 1325–75; conflation of Middle English taynt, aphetic variant of attaint struck, attainted, past participle of attainten to attaint; late Middle English taynt hue, tint
- 1. defect, spot, flaw, fault. 1. 7. blemish, stain. 6. defile, pollute, poison.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
taint /teɪnt/ vb
'taint' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):