poisonous

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈpɔɪzənəs/ See IPA manual

Freq #7839

Meanings

1

adj
Containing poison; dangerous to eat, touch, or breathe.

Some wild mushrooms are highly poisonous.
2

adj
Of an animal: able to produce a poison that it uses to attack or defend itself.

Poisonous snakes should only be handled by experts.
3

adj
Very harmful or full of ill will.

The office had a poisonous atmosphere full of gossip.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · containing poison;... toxic venomous

3 adj · very harmful or full of ill... toxic vicious

Word family

Derived forms autopoisonousnonpoisonouspoisonouslypoisonousnessunpoisonous

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

poisonous plant
a plant capable of causing harm through contact or ingestion

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English poisounous, poysonouse. By surface analysis, poison + -ous.

poisounous Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# poisonous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɔɪzənəs/
**Frequency rank:** 7839

## Meanings
1. Containing poison; dangerous to eat, touch, or breathe.
2. Of an animal: able to produce a poison that it uses to attack or defend itself.
3. Very harmful or full of ill will.

## Examples
- Some wild mushrooms are highly poisonous.
- Poisonous snakes should only be handled by experts.
- The office had a poisonous atmosphere full of gossip.

## Derived Forms
- autopoisonous
- nonpoisonous
- poisonously
- poisonousness
- unpoisonous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: poisounous

## Etymology
From Middle English poisounous, poysonouse. By surface analysis, poison + -ous.

## AI Etymology
Poisonous comes from Middle English poisounous, poysonouse. By surface analysis, poison + -ous. The historical chain includes poisounous (Middle English). In present-day English it covers containing poison; dangerous to eat, touch, or breathe, of an animal: able to produce a poison that it uses to attack or defend itself, and very harmful or full of ill will. The wider family includes derived forms such as autopoisonous, nonpoisonous, poisonously, poisonousness, unpoisonous.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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