as in poisoned
containing or contaminated with a substance capable of injuring or killing a living thing
some evil person was leaving out poisonous meat for neighborhood dogs to eat
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of poisonous
Seven-percent mortgages have been poisonous to homebuilders, and Horton was down 26% in the fourth quarter – in a rising market, at that.
—
John Dorfman, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
Social platforms are poised to become even more poisonous to their own users as a handful of outrageously rich and powerful men grapple with their own insecurities around masculinity and free speech.
—Megan Farokhmanesh, WIRED, 15 Jan. 2025
Mushrooms sold from a truck in a Salinas parking lot turned out to be poisonous, sending three people to the hospital, California health officials warned.
—Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 6 Jan. 2025
And there were giant spiders that were poisonous and stuff on the edge of the trees.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 18 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for poisonous 
John Dorfman, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
Social platforms are poised to become even more poisonous to their own users as a handful of outrageously rich and powerful men grapple with their own insecurities around masculinity and free speech.
—Megan Farokhmanesh, WIRED, 15 Jan. 2025
Mushrooms sold from a truck in a Salinas parking lot turned out to be poisonous, sending three people to the hospital, California health officials warned.
—Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 6 Jan. 2025
And there were giant spiders that were poisonous and stuff on the edge of the trees.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 18 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for poisonous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poisonous
Adjective
-
Behavior and reproduction Most frogs are nocturnal, but not poison frogs.—
National Geographic,
National Geographic,
28 Feb. 2020
-
Some farmers even intentionally poison cranes to stop them from foraging in their crops.—
National Geographic,
National Geographic,
10 Feb. 2020
Adjective
-
The lasting scars on the Gaza landscape are plain to see in the more than 360,000 structures − homes, schools, hospitals, mosques and other buildings − that lie in a vast expanse of toxic rubble.—
Stephen J. Beard,
USA TODAY,
11 Feb. 2025
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Of the three, agentic narcissism is the most recognizable—and toxic.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
TIME,
10 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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His species is the largest venomous snake in the world.—
Alissa Widman Neese,
Axios,
29 Jan. 2025
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In venomous snakes, these ridges grew longer, eventually becoming a groove that allows venom to flow from the gland to the tip of the fang—and right into the prey.—
Allison Parshall,
Scientific American,
28 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near poisonous
Cite this Entry
“Poisonous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poisonous. Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.
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