bloodstained

bloodstained — adjective

1. having blood on it, usually after an injury, fight, or killing.

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

having blood on it, usually after an injury, fight, or killing.

Example

The police found a bloodstained shirt behind the kitchen door.

bloodstained + clothing noun

A bloodstained towel lay on the bathroom floor after the accident.

bloodstained + household object

Common collocations
  • bloodstained shirt
  • bloodstained towel
  • bloodstained knife
  • bloodstained hands
  • bloodstained floor
Synonyms
  • bloody

    can mean covered in blood too, but it often sounds stronger or more dramatic

  • stained

    broader; does not say what substance made the mark

  • smeared

    suggests the blood was spread across the surface

Antonyms
  • clean

    has no dirt, marks, or blood on it

  • spotless

    emphasizes that the surface is completely free from marks

Grammar Patterns

bloodstained + noun

Usage Note

Usually appears before nouns for clothes, tools, floors, or body parts. Common in crime reports, hospital scenes, and descriptions of accidents or violence.

Common Mistakes

The nurse threw away the bloody towel.
The nurse threw away the bloodstained towel.
'bloody' can sound more emotional; 'bloodstained' focuses on the visible blood marks.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

For this sense, bloodstained is the most neutral word when you want to say that blood is visible on clothes, skin, tools, or a surface. Bloody can mean the same thing, but it often feels stronger, more shocking, or more emotional. Stained is broader and does not tell you what caused the mark, so it is less exact. Smeared suggests the blood was rubbed or spread across the surface. Splattered suggests drops hit the surface in many small spots. A bloodstained shirt may simply show marks. A blood-smeared hand suggests movement. A blood-splattered wall suggests a more violent scene.

bloody ↗stainedsmearedsplattered

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • bloodstained clothes
  • bloodstained fingerprints
  • bloodstained sheet

Etymology

Old EnglishFrenchEnglish

Bloodstained was formed in English by joining blood and stained. Blood is an old English word from Old English blod. Stained comes from the verb stain, which entered English through French. Together, the compound simply means that something shows blood marks on its surface.