Definition of "taint" []

To affect with or as if with a disease. (verb-transitive)
To affect with decay or putrefaction; spoil. See Synonyms at contaminate. (verb-transitive)
To corrupt morally. (verb-transitive)
To affect with a tinge of something reprehensible. (verb-transitive)
To become affected with decay or putrefaction; spoil. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "taint" in a sentence

"But the taint is also spreading to the city itself, which is being portrayed in an unflattering and unsettling way."
"Eyes may be the windows to the soul, but a taint is the doggie-door to pain."
"There is a young lady to accompany this gentleman, but she is even more loth [missing one letter] han himself to burden your Excellency with what she calls the taint of the rebel."

Words like "taint"

attaint defile deflower impair

infect mar poison pollute

spoil tainted tainting taints

vitiate