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toxic

Adjective
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Harmful or poisonous; in modern usage, emotionally damaging or unhealthy.

Detailed Definition
Originally a word for poison, it is now often used figuratively for relationships, behavior, or environments that cause emotional harm. Here it describes the damaging quality of the speaker’s former friendships. The figurative social sense is common, but still worth noting in a poetry glossary.
Example
Example in poetry:
“I’m better off now, free from their toxic chain” uses “toxic” figuratively for harmful influence; A “toxic” river uses the adjective literally for poisonous contamination; “Toxic praise” can imply affection that damages rather than nourishes; The modern adjective often carries social as well as chemical force
Additional Notes
In "toxic chain," the word is used figuratively for harmful relationships, which may not be obvious from the literal sense alone.; Found in the poem, Plastic Crowns by Richard
Also Known As
poisonous harmful noxious venomous sulph'rous
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