toxic
- 1Harmful to health, or deadly, when swallowed or otherwise taken into the body in large enough amounts.
Mercury is highly toxic and builds up in the body over time.
Workers wore masks to avoid breathing the toxic fumes.
Oppositeharmless, nontoxic, safe, innocuous
Note
A word that began on the battlefield. It comes through French toxique and Latin toxicum, 'poison', from the Greek toxikon, poison for use on arrows, named for toxon, 'bow'. In toxicology and pharmacology it is always tied to quantity: a substance is toxic in sufficient amounts, so the working question is how much. It pairs naturally with nouns for materials, as in toxic substances or toxic heavy metals.
- 2Severely negative or harmful in its effects.
The merger left the company saddled with toxic debt it could never repay.
A toxic mix of secrecy and fear derailed the negotiations.
Similarpoisonous, harmful, damaging, destructive, noxious
Oppositebeneficial, healthy
Note
The poison metaphor carried over to situations and things. An environment, a mix of forces or a debt can be toxic when it damages whatever sits inside it, the way a toxic environment can promote bullying. It attaches to settings and conditions, whereas the sense for hateful people describes the attitude of a person or a crowd.
- 3Hateful, or full of strong ill will toward others.
He cut ties with several toxic friends who only dragged him down.
Their toxic rivalry turned every meeting into a shouting match.
Similarpoisonous, hateful, venomous, spiteful, malicious
Oppositehealthy, friendly, supportive
Note
Here the poison sits in people and in what they give off. It describes toxic people, and also the emotions they spread. Cal Newport writes in 2020 of Twitter overrun with toxic anger. Used of a person, it is a strong judgment of character rather than a description of one bad moment, so it lands harder than unpleasant or difficult.
- 4Appearing seriously unwell, with signs of dangerous, possibly life-threatening problems in breathing, circulation, or other body systems.
The triage nurse noted that the infant appeared toxic and flagged him for immediate review.
The man arrived looking toxic, with a racing heart and shallow breathing.
Note
A clinician's word for how a patient looks, not for what they have taken. No poison need be involved. It usually follows a linking verb, as in appeared toxic or looked toxic on arrival, and it records an overall impression of how severe the illness is. Do not read it as the poisonous sense: a toxic patient is gravely ill, not a danger to others.
Practice
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Origin
Borrowed from French toxique, from Late Latin toxicus ('poisoned') and Latin toxicum ('poison'), which came from Ancient Greek toxikón, meaning poison used on arrows. This in turn came from toxikós ('relating to arrows or archery'), from tóxon ('bow').