1
: containing or being poisonous material especially when capable of causing death or serious debilitation
toxic waste
a toxic radioactive gas
an insecticide highly toxic to birds
2
: exhibiting symptoms of infection or toxicosis
the patient became toxic two days later
3
: extremely harsh, malicious, or harmful
toxic sarcasm
4
: relating to or being an asset that has lost so much value that it cannot be sold on the market
: a toxic substance
—usually used in plural
Synonyms
Examples of toxic in a Sentence
Adjective
The fumes from that chemical are highly toxic.
Tests will be run to determine if the landfill is toxic.
Noun
tested for toxics in the water supply
Recent Examples on the Web
James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2024
Millennials were raised on a diet of toxic, patriarchal relationships on film and TV, where male characters spend the majority of their time treating female characters horrendously, and then redeeming themselves in the final 20 minutes with one grand gesture.
—Lorena O’Neil, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
There has been a lot of back-and-forth in state government about PFAS in the past year, and how best to handle the toxic chemicals.
—Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 12 Apr. 2024
Environment and health activists celebrate the move as a monumental moment in the decades-long fight to purge the toxic chemicals from people’s bodies and their environments.
—Claire Bugos, Verywell Health, 12 Apr. 2024
The House Dems Who Keep Using TikTok While Voting Against It: More than a dozen House Democrats who voted to ban TikTok last month are still using the app, despite its toxic reputation on Capitol Hill.
—Makena Kelly, WIRED, 11 Apr. 2024
The story about a mother-daughter toxic relationship, set against the backdrop of addiction, turns on 17-year-old Anna and her mother Eva who move back to Eva’s small provincial Danish town from Shanghai.
—Annika Pham, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
This toxic metal has been banned from water pipes since 1986, but many homes were built before that.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 1 Apr. 2024
Some people take dietary or health supplements that already contain licorice, which increases the risk of toxic effects from eating black licorice candy.
—Bill Sullivan, Discover Magazine, 30 Mar. 2024
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
The mold industry ignores all this and continues to call mold toxic.
—Kelly G. Richardson, Orange County Register, 22 Mar. 2024
Massive piles of mining waste around the rest of the 160-acre landscape enough to fill 250,000 dump trucks are contaminated with arsenic, mercury and other toxics.
—Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2024
Such pollutants are hazardous to human health even in small doses: mercury causes brain damage in children; acid gases cause serious lung diseases; and metal toxics, such as chromium and nickel, cause cancer.
—Fred Krupp, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2017
Ultimately, a right-to-know law like Prop 65 can only go so far in addressing toxics in products.
—Robin Dodson, Fortune Well, 2 May 2023
The journey is a familiar one for California’s toxics.
—Robert Lewis, AZCentral.com, 1 Mar. 2023
Because the whales feed near shore from the base of the food chain, even sucking up sediments and mud, their scat also could provide information about toxics in the environment, Giles said.
—Lynda Mapes, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Feb. 2020
Pollution, from oily toxics to plastics, spills into coastal waters.
—Craig Welch, National Geographic, 20 Sep. 2019
Adjective
Ferguson’s anecdote caused a media and online frenzy with people trying to determine which of Ferguson’s former co-stars — which include several A-list actors — was the toxic thespian.
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2024
Millennials were raised on a diet of toxic, patriarchal relationships on film and TV, where male characters spend the majority of their time treating female characters horrendously, and then redeeming themselves in the final 20 minutes with one grand gesture.
—Lorena O’Neil, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
There has been a lot of back-and-forth in state government about PFAS in the past year, and how best to handle the toxic chemicals.
—Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 12 Apr. 2024
Environment and health activists celebrate the move as a monumental moment in the decades-long fight to purge the toxic chemicals from people’s bodies and their environments.
—Claire Bugos, Verywell Health, 12 Apr. 2024
The House Dems Who Keep Using TikTok While Voting Against It: More than a dozen House Democrats who voted to ban TikTok last month are still using the app, despite its toxic reputation on Capitol Hill.
—Makena Kelly, WIRED, 11 Apr. 2024
The story about a mother-daughter toxic relationship, set against the backdrop of addiction, turns on 17-year-old Anna and her mother Eva who move back to Eva’s small provincial Danish town from Shanghai.
—Annika Pham, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
This toxic metal has been banned from water pipes since 1986, but many homes were built before that.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 1 Apr. 2024
Some people take dietary or health supplements that already contain licorice, which increases the risk of toxic effects from eating black licorice candy.
—Bill Sullivan, Discover Magazine, 30 Mar. 2024
Noun
Blake is not an emasculated wimp; his confidence is complete, his suavity bordering on the toxic.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
The mold industry ignores all this and continues to call mold toxic.
—Kelly G. Richardson, Orange County Register, 22 Mar. 2024
Massive piles of mining waste around the rest of the 160-acre landscape enough to fill 250,000 dump trucks are contaminated with arsenic, mercury and other toxics.
—Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2024
Such pollutants are hazardous to human health even in small doses: mercury causes brain damage in children; acid gases cause serious lung diseases; and metal toxics, such as chromium and nickel, cause cancer.
—Fred Krupp, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2017
Ultimately, a right-to-know law like Prop 65 can only go so far in addressing toxics in products.
—Robin Dodson, Fortune Well, 2 May 2023
The journey is a familiar one for California’s toxics.
—Robert Lewis, AZCentral.com, 1 Mar. 2023
Because the whales feed near shore from the base of the food chain, even sucking up sediments and mud, their scat also could provide information about toxics in the environment, Giles said.
—Lynda Mapes, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Feb. 2020
Pollution, from oily toxics to plastics, spills into coastal waters.
—Craig Welch, National Geographic, 20 Sep. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'toxic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to toxic
Dictionary Entries Near toxic
Cite this Entry
“Toxic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toxic. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
toxic
1 of 2 adjective
tox·ic
ˈtäk-sik 
1
: containing or being poisonous material especially when capable of causing serious injury or death
toxic drugs
toxic gas
2
: of, relating to, or caused by a poison or toxin
toxic liver damage
3
a
: affected by a poison or toxin
b
: affected with toxemia of pregnancy
toxic pregnant women
toxic
2 of 2 noun
: a toxic substance
Legal Definition
toxic
adjective
tox·ic
ˈtäk-sik
1
: containing or being poisonous material especially when capable of causing death or serious debilitation
2
: having substantially lowered worth
specifically
: relating to or being an asset that has lost so much value that it cannot be sold on the market
toxic assets
toxic subprime loans
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