Synonyms for poison
- verb
- noun
Most common
Definitions
- v. 1
To pollute; to cause to become poisonous.
That factory is poisoning the river.
- n. 1
A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested.
Near-synonym: (loosely) venom
Choose the right word
Poison usually denotes something received into the system by the mouth, breath, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Example sentences
- infect The virus can easily infect a healthy person.
- pollute Travelling by bus or bike, you could pollute less.
- contaminate Cars with heat engines contaminate a lot.
- canker I bit the inside of my lip and got a canker sore.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| poison | rising | |
| infect | rising | |
| taint | steady | |
| pollute | steady | |
| contaminate | steady | |
| canker | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- bane1
- 5 letters
- virus2, muddy2, venom2, toxin2, taint1, atter
- 6 letters
- infect2, defile, canker2
- 7 letters
- corrupt2, pollute2, vitiate3, envenom
- 8 letters
- toxicant
- 9 letters
- infection3, pollutant3, virulence3
- 11 letters
- contaminate4, contaminant4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (virus2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- empoisonner
- Italiano
- avvelenare
- Deutsch
- vergiften