Calling someone toxic say more about the person using it than the person they're describing.

[Slightyamusedandsilly]

I have big feelings about this.

If you're using the word 'Toxic' to describe other people, you are probably the toxic one. The incorrect use of psychoanalytical terms just make your arguments meaningless or inaccurate and frankly make you sound stupid.

It's so over used and is just an excuse to denigrate someone.

Also:
Entitled
Woke
Narcissistic /narc
Delusional
Main character syndrome

(edited to say I've noticed the grammatical error in the title but can't change it!)

Yes, when someone uses that kind of language a lot, it reveals something about that person - just like calling other people or how they sound stupid tends to say something about that person rather than those they're insulting.

As others have said, those aren't psychoanalytical terms or diagnosis, even narcissistic isn't really in how most people use it. The diagnostic term is Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which is diagnosed by a range of mental health professional - most of them won't be psychoanalyists. The disorder is different to most uses of it when people call someone self-obsessed to the point of being harmful to others. It isn't incorrect or meaningless to use it that way, just like someone saying they feel depressed when they don't have a diagnosis of depression isn't using the term wrong, there is just more than one way to use those words.

I don’t agree. Some people really are toxic. There are posters in Relationships talking about abusive partners every day - those horrors are clearly toxic.

I don’t like how everyone uses the term narcissist, because there are very few true people who fit the diagnostic category of narcissistic personality disorder. There are lots of complete jerks out there; they don’t have to be narcissists to be total assholes.

But I don’t see a problem with any of the other terms. My mum is totally dysfunctional and manipulative, one might call her toxic. She blames everyone else for drama she causes. She has a husband she knows has sexually abused multiple children and she acts as his cover so he can continue to access children. She’s a deeply unhappy and mean spirited person. I don’t think that automatically makes me toxic because I’ve been a victim of that and called it out though. 🤷🏻‍♀️

What absolutely hogwash, op.

I don’t disagree. ‘Narcissistic’ on here usually means ‘Someone I don’t like, who doesn’t behave well to me’, but using ‘narcissistic’ gives it an entirely false air of authoritative diagnosis.

To be technical, it's an opinion. My opinion. Not yours, clearly.

You forgot to add 'Big feelings' to the list.

It makes anyone using it sound as though they're speaking about a toddler.

I think they are just easy insults for people to jump to. It shows a lack of vocabulary more than anything.

I think these words/terms are fashionable at the moment and are over used by all!

I agree these terms are very over-used, mostly not correctly.

No, such and such is not a narcissist or toxic. They just disagree with your opinion.🙄

The incorrect use of psychoanalytical terms just make your arguments meaningless or inaccurate and frankly make you sound stupid.

Nonew of the words you listed in your OP are psychoanalytical terms.

I think you're delusional.

My father in law used to beat up my MIL and he nearly killed her in front of their children. There was CSA in my own family growing up. If you don’t think people can behave in deeply toxic ways you are either very naive and don’t have a lot of life experience or wilfully blind.

Judge me away @Slightyamusedandsilly it really doesn’t affect me what you think.

Do you think your mother asking your father how unattractive he finds fat women in front of you, because you are fat is just… a disagreement?

They behave in appalling, unjust, violent ways, absolutely. ‘Toxic’ is a meaningless OP’s psychology term. I’m sorry about the CSA. Me too. 💐

So if I call Trump “Toxic, Entitled, Narcissistic, Delusional, Main character syndrome” it’s actually me who is toxic?

How is the word 'toxic' meaningless though? It means poisonous, and people have been described as poisonous or poison for a very, very long time before toxic became more popular. It just means the person or thing is harmful to you.

I tend to agree toxic and some of the other words really doesn't say much, toxic in what way? It's sort of a throwaway insult, and doesn't give any indication of what they do or don't do. A bully you can understand, violent, mean, all give you information about what someone is like, toxic, woke, narcissistic, and the rest have to be explained in terms of what the person is actually doing and are to me very subjective. And often when the person using the term does explain they have to fall back on more descriptive, common words and phrases, which they could have just said in the first place.

I know a really spiteful, twisted woman. She really is toxic. Awful human being. But if it offends you OP I shall stop calling her toxic and will revert back to what I’ve called her for the previous 15 years…a bitch.

They are abusive to their partners, why do you need to use toxic. If you say so and so is toxic, I have no idea they are abusive to their partner, I don't know what they do that causes you say that. It's just a random insult.

A bitch everyone can identify with, toxic doesn't conjure a picture.

It more gets me when a person on mn describes one incident and people say the person who did it is toxic etc, we can’t really know that from one event. People are assholes and do bad/ the wrong thing, you can’t assume a whole personality from one incident

But those are your terms, toxic is fine too, sorry for your experiences too.

That seems to be a problem with your own imagination and vocabulary. Not with the use of the word.

If you call everyone you encounter such things then yes, you're probably the problem but if you get on with most people and theres one person in your life who is fucking awful then yes, it is possible thst they may be the problem, particularly if others feel the same way about them.