bloodstained

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   marked, soaked, or discolored with blood

   Investigators sealed the bloodstained shirt in an evidence bag.

2. 2
   adj

   figuratively responsible for bloodshed or marked by a history of killing

   The ruler's bloodstained reign ended after years of civil war.

A compound of blood + stained, using the past participle of stain. Its literal meaning is transparent: marked or discolored by blood. The adjective also developed a figurative moral sense for a person, regime, or history associated with killing and bloodshed.

Topics