Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

poisonous

/ˈpɔɪzənəs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.57 in modern English

Syllables: poi-sonous
IPA: /ˈpɔɪzənəs/

11

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Containing sufficient poison to be dangerous to touch or ingest.

adj

Of an animal such as a snake or spider, or parts of its body: producing a toxin intended for defensive or offensive use which is usually injected into an enemy or prey by biting or stinging; hence, of a bite or sting: injecting poison.

adj

Negative, harmful.

Example Sentences

"While highly poisonous to dogs, this substance is completely harmless if ingested by humans."
"Nor taint-worm ſhall infect the yeaning herds / Nor penny-graſs, nor ſpearwort's poiſ'nous leaf."
"I had picked a mushroom so poisonous that particles of it, stuck to my fingers and accidentally swallowed, could have made me deathly ill, and a piece the size of my thumb could have killed me."
"Poisonous snakes should only be handled by experienced professionals."
"SERPENT … either that which is not poiſonous: or that which is counted poiſonous, having two long, hollow, moveable teeth, …"
"The Cencoatl (o), which is alſo a poiſonous ſnake, is about five feet long, and eight inches round at the thickeſt part."

Etymology

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

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: poisounous

Inflected Forms

more poisonous (comparative) most poisonous (superlative)

Derived Forms

autopoisonous nonpoisonous poisonously poisonousness unpoisonous

Phrases

fruit of the poisonous tree poisonous compliment

Synonyms

poisoned toxic venomous attery vicious toxicant

Antonyms

nonpoisonous unpoisonous

Rhymes With

non-poisonous nonpoisonous

Questions

How do you pronounce poisonous?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɔɪzənəs/.
What does poisonous mean?: Containing sufficient poison to be dangerous to touch or ingest.
Where does poisonous come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce poisonous

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “poisonous”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpɔɪzənəs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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