Poisonous vs venomous: do you know the difference?

Poisonous vs venomous: wait – don’t they mean the same thing?!

I confess, until I heard someone explain the difference between the two adjectives, I thought they were synonymous.

They’re not!

Hopefully this tip – summed up in the visual below – will help you remember the difference.

You’ve probably heard people describe creatures such as snakes and spiders as POISONOUS: but unless you’re planning to eat them, VENOMOUS is more accurate.

POISONOUS is used to describe something that’s toxic if you ingest it. So, if you bite it and you die, it’s POISONOUS.

VENOMOUS creatures produce poison. If you’re bitten by a VENOMOUS snake, you could die.

(Don’t get me wrong – I have nothing against snakes, or spiders for that matter – I’m exaggerating to make a point, as a stronger mental image is more likely to make the trick stick in your mind.)

Get more tips in The Little Book of Confusables

POISONOUS vs VENOMOUS. Excerpt from The Little Book of Confusables by Sarah Townsend. Get simple spelling tips for 500+ commonly confused words.