poison pen
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The gamebook offers a variety of multimedia evidence—cartoonish photographs of the main characters, typewritten notes, news clippings, poison-pen letters—and then encourages the would-be detectives to flip back and forth until they reach their conclusion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
There’s no murder here, but someone is leaving poison-pen letters, repellent drawings and destructive wreckage around the campus; Harriet, drawn back for an alumni weekend, gets pulled into the mystery.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 15, 2019
Lennon’s poison-pen letter targeting his former band mate, Paul McCartney.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2018
Mr. Theroux was then inspired to write the poison-pen memoir “Sir Vidia’s Shadow.”
From New York Times • Jun. 4, 2011
The poison-pen puzzle, as it came to be known in the department, first bobbed up some six months before Allison tackled it.
From On Secret Service Detective-Mystery Stories Based on Real Cases Solved By Government Agents by Taft, William Nelson
