taint
taint Lexical Profile
taint Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To contaminate or pollute something, especially food, water, or medicine, making it spoiled or unsafe.
"Industrial runoff had begun to taint the local groundwater supply."
To affect someone or something with a bad, undesirable, or morally corrupting quality; to tarnish a reputation or memory.
"Allegations of bias threatened to taint the committee's final report."
• noun
A trace of a bad, undesirable, or corrupting quality or substance; a moral blemish or stain on one's reputation.
"The administration struggled to free itself from the taint of financial scandal."
A physical contamination, infection, or trace of decay, especially in food or water.
"The sommelier immediately detected the taint of cork in the vintage wine."
• Rhymes for taint
Word Origin & Etymology
Dating back to the late 14th century, the word merges Anglo-French 'teint' (from Latin 'tingere', meaning 'to dye or stain') with an aphetic form of 'attaint' (from Old French 'ateindre', meaning 'to touch upon or convict').