as in poisoned
containing or contaminated with a substance capable of injuring or killing a living thing
the witch gave Snow White a poison apple
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in toxic
a substance that by chemical action can kill or injure a living thing
the only way to get rid of rats is to leave out poison
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to taint
to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable
poisoning the minds of impressionable children with ethnic hatred
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to pollute
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable
exhaust fumes poisoning the air
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
this party partisanship poisons the national debate we should be having about this urgent problem
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of poison
Megan McCluskey, Time, 31 Oct. 2025
Constant procedural upheaval and backlogs are poison.
—Scott White, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
Arkansas Online, 20 Jan. 2026
These poisons are from different trees.
—Nate Atkins, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Beren Cross, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
In one case, in the year before Makandal’s death, a servant in Saint-Domingue named Médor was arrested for poisoning his enslaver to obtain his freedom.
—Literary Hub, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for poison
Adjective
Michelle spins a long and complicated tale, but insists Teddy was wrong about the Andromedans trying to infiltrate and poison humanity.
—Megan McCluskey, Time, 31 Oct. 2025
Constant procedural upheaval and backlogs are poison.
—Scott White, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
Noun
Increasing the use of rat poisons would only result in more inhumane wildlife deaths.
—Arkansas Online, 20 Jan. 2026
These poisons are from different trees.
—Nate Atkins, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Verb
Those circumstances make the ultimate loss all the harder to stomach, but that pain cannot be allowed to poison the goodwill and confidence nurtured since the end of November.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
In one case, in the year before Makandal’s death, a servant in Saint-Domingue named Médor was arrested for poisoning his enslaver to obtain his freedom.
—Literary Hub, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for poison
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poison
Noun
-
The Michigan Legislature passed a law in 2008 meant to protect the public from harmful electronic waste toxics.—
Nushrat Rahman,
Freep.com,
27 Dec. 2025
-
East Bay parks officials say hikers should beware of an unusually large number of toxic — and potentially deadly — mushrooms sprouting across the region.—
Jakob Rodgers,
Mercury News,
10 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
The playoff resume includes two World Series titles with the Houston Astros, one subsequently tainted by a sign-stealing scandal.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
15 Jan. 2026
-
Viral clothes, engineered to spin the internet into days of discourse, tainted our collective sense of what was glamorous and pretty.—
Rachel Tashjian,
CNN Money,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
In November, detainees at the facility sued, alleging the facility is polluted by sewage leaks and insect infestations, and that detainees can’t get proper medical attention for life-threatening conditions.—
CalMatters,
Oc Register,
21 Jan. 2026
-
First of all, most batteries contain cobalt, nickel, manganese, and other heavy metals that can be potentially toxic, and keeping them out of landfills ensures that these metals don’t leech out and pollute drinking water or the natural environment.—
Katherine Gallagher,
Treehugger,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
These gaps are weak spots that can spread inward, causing the crystal structure to degrade and ultimately reduce the cell’s efficiency.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
-
The issue has intensified in recent years and is only set to get worse, as the relentless expansion of urban centres brings artificial light further into the countryside, permeating and degrading our view of the heavens.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Researchers in Germany are set to turn green waste, hay and algae into fully biodegradable plastics.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Together, these trends have turned industrial space into a cornerstone of national logistics and digital capacity.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Should Trump pursue this scheme of conquest, the military’s training will have to be shattered and reassembled into a destructive version of itself, as if doctors were asked to take lifesaving medicines, reconstitute them as poisonous isomers, and then administer them to patients.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
19 Jan. 2026
-
Having been burned badly by his phantom surplus in 2022, Newsom is obviously aware that a repeat would be politically poisonous.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
In those participants, the disease was not associated with any changes in brain size or evidence of damage.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
During an appearance on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, Horton took the time to promote a charity seeking to raise funds for the organization Pancreatic Cancer UK, while also sharing a sweet tribute to the late Harry Potter star, who died from the disease in 2016 at age 69.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The loss spoiled a debut that had been perhaps the most anticipated at USC in at least half a decade, since Evan Mobley graced the Galen Center court in 2021.—
Ryan Kartje,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
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Unfortunately, as the street version of the virus (known simply as The Beauty) continues to spread, the bad PR threatens to spoil its official launch.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Poison.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poison. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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