tainting

verb

present participle of taint
1
as in marring
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in polluting
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tainting Several homeowners near Meta’s massive Newton County data center have filed a lawsuit accusing the tech company and others of tainting their water and destroying their rural way of life. — Zachary Hansen, AJC.com, 1 Sep. 2026 For all intents and purposes, an unknown actor can wade unburdened into the depths of Bond, able to transform without a viewer’s prior expectation tainting the image of 007. — Emily Maskell, IndieWire, 10 July 2026 District Court Judge Tony Graf ordered measures to prevent the comments by Utah County prosecutor Christopher Ballard from tainting potential jurors should the case go to trial. — Reuters, NBC news, 26 June 2026 The case has attracted enormous media attention and concerns from both sides about misinformation tainting the potential jury pool. — Rebecca Boone, Chicago Tribune, 22 June 2026 Protagonist Jo’s mother disappeared when Jo was a teen, tainting her daughter with the stain of possible witchcraft. — Literary Hub, 2 June 2026 At a time of intensifying divisions at home, a depiction of Ecuador could offer an Edenic, new-world landscape free from the partisanship tainting Church’s New England landscapes. — Sebastian Smee, New Yorker, 4 May 2026 Now, streaming is tainting the postseason. — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 15 Apr. 2026 Played by cisgender actress Kathleen Turner, Charles proved to be one of the more divisive characters from Friends, tainting its cultural legacy for some critics. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tainting
  1. marring
  2. polluting
  3. spoiling
  4. poisoning
  5. staining
  6. contaminating
  7. darkening
  8. touching
Verb
  • The Trib is withholding Nick’s full name to avoid marring his reputation in the eyes of future employers or others who might run a search on him.
    — Kate Payne, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The latter track takes overt inspiration from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette, as Jepsen beckons her love to engage in life’s vices with her, like marring bedsheets with fruit stains and dashing nude through the garden.
    — Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of marring
Verb
  • This means the development of new clean energy sources will provide greater financial benefits to families rather than polluting, expensive, and outdated sources of energy like oil and gas.
    — Sanya Carley, Time, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Many off-grid communities have long relied on costly, polluting diesel generators.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of polluting
Verb
  • Alongside Stonestreet’s return, Ritter is also back in the Dexter universe, but the cast and crew were more careful about not spoiling how.
    — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Without spoiling the plot, there’s a dispiriting note at the end of the film as text on-screen informs us that some very high percentage of Americans get their news from Facebook to this day.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of spoiling
Verb
  • Could something so commonplace really be slowly poisoning people?
    — Sean McCann, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The court heard how the former nurse, now 36, attacked babies in her care by administering air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them and poisoning them with insulin.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of poisoning
Verb
  • Hydrogen peroxide acts as a mild disinfectant that kills mold and bacteria and is very helpful for light staining.
    — Asia London Palomba, The Spruce, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Use only white, clear or purple products on your hair to avoid staining.
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of staining
Verb
  • Lincoln Park Zoo sits atop a former burial ground, Chicago City Cemetery, which was moved in the 1860s amid concerns that the graves were contaminating the water supply.
    — Jennifer Day, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • How Monster Depicts the Borden Murders Their first attempt involves serving the couple oysters in May, when the series says the city of Fall River dumps its sewage over the oyster beds, contaminating the shellfish with potentially fatal bacteria.
    — Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of contaminating
Verb
  • The neutral palette feels a little more friendly and relaxed rather than dark and serious, which adds a certain brightness back into the rapidly darkening days.
    — Bianca Kratky, Glamour, 8 Oct. 2026
  • But at a festive National Day meal in Riyadh, where families dined while patriotic songs filled the room, there was a growing sense that the public mood may be darkening.
    — Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of darkening
Verb
  • Consequently, international gold prices experienced downward pressure, briefly touching their lowest level since August 5th during intraday trading.
    — , CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In a world where an internet search or an AI summary promises an instant answer, there is something seductive about an investigation that requires touching the evidence.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of touching

Browse Nearby Words

tainted
tainting
taintless
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Cite this Entry

“Tainting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tainting. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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