3 ms·
> It's a bit awkward since "poisonous" refers to things you eat poisonous (adj.) [...] 2. (figuratively) Negative, harmful. Synonym: toxic
by jhugo 4y ago
> It's a bit awkward since "poisonous" refers to things you eat
poisonous (adj.)
[...]
2. (figuratively) Negative, harmful.
Synonym: toxic
- Izkata 4y agoNot a synonym, at least by the nouns they're based on. Toxin is a parent category that encompasses both poisons and venoms. Poisons are something you do to yourself (usually by ingestion), venoms are injected by the other organism (such as a snake bite).
- jhugo 4y agoI quoted from Wiktionary, feel free to update the definition there (with sources) if you disagree. Note that the "Synonym: toxic" appears underneath the second (figurative) definition, and in my opinion is perfectly correct; in figurative use poisonous and toxic are used in the same way.