stain
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A discolored spot or area caused by spillage or other contact with certain fluids or substances.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
staynIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsteɪn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A discolored spot or area caused by spillage or other contact with certain fluids or substances.
A blemish on one's character or reputation.
A substance used to soak into a surface and colour it.
A reagent or dye used to stain microscope specimens so as to make some structures visible.
verb
transitive
To discolor, as by spilling or other contact with a fluid or substance.
To taint or tarnish someone's character or reputation
To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.
To coat a surface with a stain
intransitive
To become stained; to take a stain.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A discolored spot or area caused by spillage or other contact with certain fluids or substances.
Used this way, stain is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- discolouration , used mainly in Regional English
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use stain
- “Stain this table a beautiful walnut color.”verb
- “Red wine stains the table cloth.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Marked or dyed or discolored with foreign matter.
The use of a dye to color specimens for microscopic study.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Steel containing chromium that makes it resistant to corrosion.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Glass that has been colored in some way.
A window made of stained glass.
A flat birthmark varying from pink to purple.
A stain produced by oil.
A stain produced by mud.
A staining technique used to classify bacteria.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.