taint
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A contamination, decay or putrefaction.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tayntIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈteɪnt
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 contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
A tinge, trace or touch.
A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish.
A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect.
An injury done to a lance in an encounter, without its being broken; also, a breaking of a lance in an encounter in a dishonorable or unscientific manner.
verb
transitive
To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.
transitive
To spoil (food) by contamination.
intransitive
To be infected or corrupted; to be touched by something corrupting.
intransitive
To be affected with incipient putrefaction.
transitive
To damage, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner.
intransitive
To thrust ineffectually with a lance.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
Used this way, taint 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
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.