Toxic

How to spell toxic

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce toxic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does toxic mean?

1. adjectiveContaining or made of substances that can poison or seriously harm a living thing.
2. adjectiveDescribing a relationship, environment, or behaviour that is deeply harmful or destructive to wellbeing.

Toxic in a sentence

• The factory dumped toxic waste into the river for years.

• She finally left a toxic relationship that had drained her confidence.

• Some household cleaners give off toxic fumes when mixed.

• The constant gossip created a toxic atmosphere in the office.

Where does toxic come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin toxicum, meaning 'poison', which the Romans borrowed from the Greek toxikon. The Greek phrase was actually toxikon pharmakon, literally 'poison for arrows', and it grew out of toxon, the ordinary Greek word for a 'bow'. In other words, the original sense was the deadly substance that warriors smeared on their arrowheads, so the idea of poison was tied to archery from the very start. The adjective entered English in the 1600s by way of the Latin form toxicus, first describing literally poisonous substances. Only in the twentieth, and especially the twenty-first, century did the figurative use flourish, letting people describe harmful relationships, workplaces, or attitudes as 'toxic'. The single x captures the sound of the older 'ks' spellings and is the small detail worth remembering.

How the word is built

• tox- (from toxicum: poison)
• -ic (adjective suffix: of or relating to)