untarnished, unmarred, untainted

English translation: difference rather subtle and not always observed

19:53 Jul 23, 2009

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Other / GRE question

English term or phrase: untarnished, unmarred, untainted

I'm currently studying for the GRE, and in one question I ran into three possible answers that seemed too similar:"untarnished, unmarred and untainted", in relation to reputation. I would like to know if there is a significant difference among them and what is that difference. Thanks!

anabell13 (X) KudoZ activity Questions: 3 (none open) (1 without valid answers) Answers: 0
Local time: 13:57

Selected answer:difference rather subtle and not always observed

Explanation:
Untarnished is the most commonly used. Silver tarnishes when exposed to light and air (thank heavens for stainless steel cutlery); so, by analogy, an untarnished reputation is not the worse for wear and still sparkles. A marred reputation would be blemished by some actual fault, not just a bit worn, so an unmarred reputation might not be quite as sparkling as an untarnished one. As Michael says, taint implies corruption.

Selected response from:

B D Finch
France
Local time: 20:57

Grading comment

Thank you for the explanation, knowing the background of the words gives me a good idea of the difference among them, and makes it easier to remember!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +3

difference rather subtle and not always observed

B D Finch

3 +2

very little difference

Armorel Young

unblemished,unhurt,uncorrupted

Alexandra Taggart

irreproachable/unscathed

Peter Moor

(see below)

Michael Beijer

Answers

9 mins confidence:

(see below)

Explanation:
Hmm. Well, there is a difference between the first two and the last. That is, 'untarnished', and 'unmarred', are different than 'untainted'.

The (un)tainted seems to also include a certain moral element, as in 'to be corrupt somehow or unpure, morally ethically, etc.'

However, I must say, the difference is very slight, and depends very much on the context they were used in.

Reference: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tainted

Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:57
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

27 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

very little difference

Explanation:
I think there's very little difference between them, and it would take a lot of sublety to distinguish them.

However, I would say that simply in terms of frequency an "untarnished reputation" is by far the most common collocation (although "unblemished reputation" would be even more common) - "unmarred" and "untainted" both strike me as a little unusual in this context, although not wrong.

Armorel Young
Local time: 19:57
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 44

38 mins confidence:

irreproachable/unscathed

Explanation:
As opposed to what has been said, I believe that the first and last (untarnished and untainted) are used in reference to reputation more than unmarred. They are basically synonyms, meaning "unblemished."
Unmarred is used more as an adjective meaning either unmutilated or undamaged, and is used more as it relates to something tangible, rather than to reputation.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary Browse

unmarred (Consise Oxford English Dictionary):
■ adjective not marred or spoilt.

Hope this helps.

Example sentence(s):

"his unsullied name"; "an untarnished reputation"

Reference: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/untarnished

Peter Moor
United States
Local time: 14:57
Native speaker of:

Dutch,

English
PRO pts in category: 4

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

difference rather subtle and not always observed

B D Finch
France
Local time: 20:57
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 20

Grading comment

Thank you for the explanation, knowing the background of the words gives me a good idea of the difference among them, and makes it easier to remember!!

2 hrs confidence:

unblemished,unhurt,uncorrupted

Explanation:
All three mean "UNSPOILED".

Alexandra Taggart
Russian Federation
Local time: 21:57
Native speaker of:

English,

Russian

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English translation: difference rather subtle and not always observed

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