POISONING Synonyms: 128 Similar and Opposite Words

poisoning

verb

present participle of poison

as in tainting

to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable poisoning the minds of impressionable children with ethnic hatred

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in polluting

to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable exhaust fumes poisoning the air

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in degrading

to lower in character, dignity, or quality this party partisanship poisons the national debate we should be having about this urgent problem

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in turning

to cause to have often negative opinions formed without sufficient knowledge malicious rumors had poisoned many church members against the new pastor

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of poisoning See affected product Symptoms of salmonella poisoning Symptoms of salmonella poisoning usually start six hours to six days after ingesting the bacteria. — Julia Gomez, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2026 The burning of fossil fuels is poisoning the air our kids breathe and endangering their present and future by overheating our planet. — Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026 Trump is also poisoning the process at a moment when the system for casting votes in the United States really does need shoring up. — Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026 An unknown person has been poisoning mature pine trees at Burnt Cedar Beach in Incline Village since 2022, with 16 more trees targeted this July and August — a case some suspect involves a wealthy resident trying to improve their view of Lake Tahoe. — Sacbee.com, 15 Aug. 2026 While the mines themselves trample landscapes, the mercury used in the process is poisoning communities. — ABC News, 14 Aug. 2026 Women in ancient Rome used toad secretions to murder their husbands; 16th-century Italian chemists laced salts with toad toxins for poisoning the food of enemies. — Kimon De Greef, Longreads, 4 Aug. 2026 Historically used in dry cleaning or to degrease metal parts, the chemicals leaked into the base’s wells, poisoning the drinking water. — Wuft News, Miami Herald, 29 July 2026 In the past, farmers have been suspected of deliberately poisoning elephants to prevent them from eating crops. — CBS News, 29 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for poisoning

Verb

For all intents and purposes, an unknown actor can wade unburdened into the depths of Bond, able to transform without a viewer’s prior expectation tainting the image of 007.

— Emily Maskell, IndieWire, 10 July 2026
District Court Judge Tony Graf ordered measures to prevent the comments by Utah County prosecutor Christopher Ballard from tainting potential jurors should the case go to trial.

— Reuters, NBC news, 26 June 2026

Definition of tainting

Verb

This novel legal approach, likened to a polluting factory, argues that AI chatbots cause mental harm, provide uncertified advice, and undermine public health and safety.

— Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2026
This large mass will translate into higher quantities of polluting propellant needed to loft these systems off Earth and a much larger amount of metals vaporizing in Earth's atmosphere during reentry.

— Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of polluting

Verb

For instance, excess ions fail to enter the graphite quickly enough and form performance-degrading metallic deposits on the surface (lithium plating).

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 24 Aug. 2026
The Tate brothers built a global following, became extremely wealthy, and gained cultural and political influence by degrading and harming women.

— Jodi Bondi Norgaard, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of degrading

Verb

Investigators say Santos was barred from trading on his own attendance but still placed large bets and issued misleading social media posts aimed at moving prices, turning a $17,839 profit.

— Larry Neumeister, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
For generations of American teenagers, turning 16 and getting a driver’s license has been a rite of passage—and a first taste of independence.

— Preston Fore, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of turning

Verb

Tiny pieces may begin to fall off, contaminating your food, while those with a crack in them can foster bacteria growth.

— BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026
Even the regular, gluten pizzas are tossed with rice flour, to avoid wheat flour contaminating the surfaces in the kitchen.

— Elizabeth MacBride, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of contaminating

Verb

The Apology is Plato’s version of the speech of self-defense Socrates gives when he is tried by the city of Athens for corrupting the youth and not believing in the gods.

— Agnes Callard, The New York Review of Books, 18 Aug. 2026
The judge also said that Nine PBS must find a third party, such as a former OSS worker, who can help retrieve the data within 30 days and without sharing or corrupting data belonging to other OSS clients.

— Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of corrupting

Verb

Others would create a certification program for fire-safe building and landscaping practices in part with the hope of convincing insurance companies to lower rates.

— Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
And Paragon Health Institute, which was powerfully influential in convincing lawmakers to tighten Medicaid and Affordable Care Act spending, put out a paper earlier this year arguing for further reforms across government programs that pay providers.

— Daniel Payne, STAT, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of convincing

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poisoned

poisoning

poisonous

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“Poisoning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poisoning. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of poisoning

verb

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