Synonyms of poisoning

poisoning

verb

present participle of poison

1

as in tainting

to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable

poisoning the minds of impressionable children with ethnic hatred

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tainting
• spoiling
• marring
• staining
• darkening
• touching
• tarnishing
• blackening
• lowering
• polluting
• discrediting
• degrading
• corrupting
• vitiating
• smearing
• distorting
• blemishing
• soiling
• blurring
• discoloring
• dirtying
• sullying
• clouding
• disgracing
• besmirching
• shaming
• dishonoring
• sinking
• fouling
• smudging
• tarring
• perverting
• debasing
• subverting
• debauching
• cheapening
• depraving
• twisting
• besmearing
• demeaning
• smirching
• smutting
• demoralizing
• abasing
• coloring
• begriming
• bastardizing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cleansing
• purifying
• elevating
• magnifying
• uplifting
• glorifying
• ennobling
• dignifying
• enshrining
• hallowing

2

as in polluting

to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable

exhaust fumes poisoning the air

Synonyms & Similar Words

• polluting
• contaminating
• tainting
• infecting
• defiling
• befouling
• fouling
• staining
• diluting
• soiling
• dirtying
• rotting
• blackening
• sullying
• besmirching
• corrupting
• smudging
• spoiling
• adulterating
• muddying
• miring
• fouling up
• griming
• watering down
• smirching
• doctoring
• begriming

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cleaning
• purifying
• cleansing
• purging
• clearing
• clarifying
• distilling
• filtering
• decontaminating
• sterilizing
• disinfecting
• sanitizing

3

as in degrading

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

• degrading
• corrupting
• weakening
• deteriorating
• damaging
• diluting
• destroying
• subverting
• humiliating
• debauching
• polluting
• depraving
• ruining
• perverting
• debasing
• contaminating
• cankering
• tainting
• lessening
• prostituting
• disgracing
• warping
• cheapening
• demoralizing
• harming
• demeaning
• vitiating
• marring
• bastardizing
• abasing
• profaning
• shaming
• hurting
• thinning
• wrecking
• impairing
• dirtying
• spoiling
• defiling
• watering down
• dishonoring
• tarnishing
• humbling
• staining
• befouling
• descending
• defacing
• downgrading
• begriming
• flawing
• taking down
• depreciating
• blemishing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• improving
• elevating
• uplifting
• honoring
• enhancing
• exalting
• cleaning
• enriching
• ameliorating
• amending
• ennobling
• perfecting
• restoring
• bettering
• purifying
• cleansing
• refining
• dignifying
• respecting
• clarifying
• meliorating

4

as in turning

to cause to have often negative opinions formed without sufficient knowledge

malicious rumors had poisoned many church members against the new pastor

Synonyms & Similar Words

• turning
• convincing
• persuading
• biasing
• prejudicing
• influencing
• disposing
• predisposing
• inclining
• suggesting
• prepossessing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of poisoning

James Folta considers how generative AI is poisoning the literary well for everyone. — Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026

The government was the one that was poisoning the industrial alcohol the people were stealing to make bathtub gin. — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Could something so commonplace really be slowly poisoning people? — Sean McCann, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2026

Four years later, Kaczynski started adding booby traps around his cabin, and throughout the 1980s, he was accused by his neighbors of poisoning their dogs, The New York Times reported in 1999. — Katie Mather, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2026

The court heard how the former nurse, now 36, attacked babies in her care by administering air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them and poisoning them with insulin. — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026

Former Titans scout Blaise Taylor received consecutive life sentences after his conviction for poisoning his pregnant girlfriend. — Chris Branch, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026

See list Symptoms of salmonella poisoning Symptoms of salmonella poisoning usually start six hours to six days after ingesting the bacteria. — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026

The burning of fossil fuels is poisoning the air our kids breathe and endangering their present and future by overheating our planet. — Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026