TOXIC
What does "TOXIC" mean?
Poisonous; capable of causing harm or death through chemical action, or figuratively harmful.
Meanings
- Containing or being poisonous material able to cause illness, injury, or death. The factory was fined for dumping toxic waste into the river.
- Deeply harmful, corrosive, or unhealthy in a relationship, workplace, or culture. She finally left the toxic job that had been wearing her down. figurative
Did you know?
- 'Toxic' is rooted in archery: the Greek 'toxikon' meant 'poison for arrows', from 'toxon', a bow - the chemistry came later than the weapon.
- Oxford named 'toxic' its 2018 Word of the Year as people stopped applying it mainly to chemicals and started applying it to bosses, exes, and online culture.
Word origin
From Late Latin 'toxicus', 'poisoned', from Latin 'toxicum', 'poison', from Greek 'toxikon (pharmakon)', literally 'poison for arrows', from 'toxon', meaning 'bow'.
Remember it
TOXIC starts like 'toxin' and 'toxon' (Greek for bow) - a toxic thing is poison fired straight at you, like a poisoned arrow.
A little poem
No skull-and-crossbones marks the worst of it;
the toxic things still smile while they emit.
couplet
Wordplay
- My chemistry teacher said the relationship between sodium and water was toxic. I said no - it just had explosive chemistry.
What it teaches
Poison rarely announces itself; the most toxic things are the ones we keep drinking because we got used to the taste.
Quick facts
What does TOXIC mean?
Poisonous; capable of causing harm or death through chemical action, or figuratively harmful.
Is TOXIC a valid word?
Yes — TOXIC is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is TOXIC?
TOXIC has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does TOXIC come from?
From Late Latin 'toxicus', 'poisoned', from Latin 'toxicum', 'poison', from Greek 'toxikon (pharmakon)', literally 'poison for arrows', from 'toxon', meaning 'bow'.
What can TOXIC teach us?
Poison rarely announces itself; the most toxic things are the ones we keep drinking because we got used to the taste.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.