Without a stain on his character

[edwin]

Test No. incompl/advan-44 "Scandal", question 1

Mathew Smith was a highly respected member of parliament with no ......... on his character.

(a) sign
(b) indication
(c) stain
(d) point

Test No. incompl/advan-44 "Scandal", answer 1

Mathew Smith was a highly respected member of parliament with no stain on his character.

Correct answer: (c) stain
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what does stain mean?

[Alan]

Stain is a mark in a literal sense. For example if you drop a glass of wine on a carpet, what you see after it has dried is a mark or stain. In a figurative sense as in without a stain on his character it means without anything bad about his character.
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story A Rhapsody of Words