toxic
/ˈtɒk.sɪk/adjective
toxic is spelled T-O-X-I-C: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, toxic means “Having a chemical nature that is harmful to health or lethal if consumed or otherwise entering into the body in sufficient quantities” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in toxic?
| Letters | 5: T-O-X-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,752nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is toxic?
Toxic appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce toxic?
- UK /ˈtɒk.sɪk/
- /ˈtɑk.sɪk/
Toxic has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-toxic.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Qwertygiy-toxic.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of toxic
- more toxic comparative
- most toxic superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does toxic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having a chemical nature that is harmful to health or lethal if consumed or otherwise entering into the body in sufficient quantities.
Tobacco smoke contains many toxic substances.
- 2
Appearing grossly unwell; characterised by serious, potentially life-threatening compromise in the respiratory, circulatory or other body systems.
The child appeared toxic on arrival at the hospital.
- 3
Severely negative or harmful.
a toxic environment that promoted bullying
- 4
Of a person, hateful or strongly antipathetic.
It is not good to be around toxic people.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Toxic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | toxique |
| German | giftig, toxisch, gesundheitsschädlich , in kritischem Zustand, in Lebensgefahr , vergiftet |
| Portuguese | tóxico |
| Spanish | tóxico |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.