Standard Lemma guide

tainted

adj · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈteɪntɪd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪntɪd
  • CMU ARPABET: T EY1 N T IH0 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Corrupted or filled with imperfections.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Hey, get that away from me! It was bought with tainted money.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: adulterated, impure, polluted, tainted, common, contaminated, corrupted, mixed, sophisticated

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Originating from an untrusted source.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: computer security

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: imperfect, faulty
  • Do not use tainted values in SQL queries.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: corrupt, imperfect, faulty

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

simple past and past participle of taint

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, participle, past

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

touched by rot or decay

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • tainted bacon
  • `corrupt' is archaic

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: corrupt

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English taint Old English -ed Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh2tos Proto-Germanic *-ōdaz Old English -od Middle English -ed English -ed English tainted From taint + -ed.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Esperanto: malpurigita — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Finnish: pilaantunut — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Finnish: saastunut — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Finnish: turmeltunut — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • German: unrein — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • German: verdorben — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Greek: ανήθικος (aníthikos) — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Greek: διεφθαρμένος (dieftharménos) — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Greek: φαύλος (fávlos) — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Māori: nanu — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Russian: гря́зный (grjáznyj) — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Slovak: špinavý — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Slovak: skazený — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Turkish: kirli — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Turkish: murdar — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Turkish: çirkef — corrupted or filled with imperfections
  • Turkish: pis — corrupted or filled with imperfections