as in polluted
containing foreign or lower-grade substances
tainted groundwater that is unfit to drink
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in poisoned
to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable
criticism of her sister's singing that was tainted by envy a tendency toward conceitedness taints the athlete's status as a role model
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2
as in contaminated
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable
smog has long tainted the air of the city, making it difficult to breathe
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of tainted
Brenda Goodman, CNN, 2 Nov. 2024
Following the Vatican leaks and Benedict’s tainted legacy, Bergoglio aims to deliver his resignation but is met with resistance by the acting Pope, who has other plans for the Cardinal.
—EW.com, 14 Sep. 2024
A.j. Herrington, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
Fruits and vegetables can be contaminated by pathogens that occur naturally in soil, or by water used for irrigation, which can be tainted with the feces of animals in nearby farms.
—Emily Schmall, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tainted 
Adjective
Without this work, however, outbreaks of foodborne illness might never be spotted or traced back to a tainted ingredient, and more people would get sick and die.
—Brenda Goodman, CNN, 2 Nov. 2024
Following the Vatican leaks and Benedict’s tainted legacy, Bergoglio aims to deliver his resignation but is met with resistance by the acting Pope, who has other plans for the Cardinal.
—EW.com, 14 Sep. 2024
Verb
The lawsuit alleged that the petitions were tainted by misconduct and thus invalid.
—A.j. Herrington, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
Fruits and vegetables can be contaminated by pathogens that occur naturally in soil, or by water used for irrigation, which can be tainted with the feces of animals in nearby farms.
—Emily Schmall, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tainted
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tainted
Verb
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The reality is Kade was poisoned, murdered.Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic, 6 Dec. 2024
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The lawsuit claims she was abused and poisoned.Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 5 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The agency notes that cats can contract the H5N1 virus from various sources, including consuming the meat of infected birds or animals, exposure to contaminated environments, or consumption of raw milk from infected cattle.Siladitya Ray, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
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One thing to consider is that the issue could be with contaminated packaging.Stacey Lastoe, Southern Living, 12 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Bumpy recovery Exports have been a rare bright spot for the world’s second-largest economy that has been marred with lackluster domestic consumption and a prolonged housing downturn.Anniek Bao, CNBC, 10 Dec. 2024
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Attorneys representing inmates on federal death row have submitted clemency petitions asking for Biden to commute their clients' sentences, with some arguing that their clients had received ineffective legal assistance and had trials marred by racial bias.Khaleda Rahman, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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In a cinematic landscape laden with diluted IP projects, Jenkins is hardly the first filmmaker working as a cog in a billion-dollar machine.Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Dec. 2024
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As bowl games outside the College Football Playoff have become more diluted, organizers have sought new ways to steal the spotlight.Peter Burke, Fox News, 16 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Vinegar, which is really dilute acetic acid, will help the milk curdle by further denaturing the whey proteins and neutralizing negative charges at the surface of casein micelles.Liz Roth-Johnson, Discover Magazine, 12 Feb. 2013
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However toxic a substance may be, the amount of exposure received by the general population is very dilute.George Johnson, Discover Magazine, 8 July 2013
Adjective
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The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to distributing adulterated ice-cream products and agreed to pay a fine over the outbreak.Dylan Tokar, WSJ, 2 Feb. 2023
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And while most of those overdoses involved the illicit synthetic opioid fentanyl, experts say that an adulterated and contaminated drug supply is also leading to deaths.Nadia Kounang, CNN, 17 Mar. 2022
Adjective
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Rents have been a particular focus for policymakers, and the news there also has been mixed.Jeff Cox, CNBC, 11 Dec. 2024
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The performance of BlackRock stock over the last few years has been mixed.Trefis Team, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near tainted
Cite this Entry
“Tainted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tainted. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
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