Dictionary

poisoned chalice en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpɔɪzn̩d ˈtʃælɪs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• /ˈpɔɪzənd ˈtʃælɪs/ (General-American)

Etymology

From poisoned + chalice (“a large drinking cup”), referring to a chalice containing a poisoned drink which is offered to someone. The earliest use of the term cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is in Shakespeare’s Macbeth (c. 1606), in a speech in which Macbeth flinches from the prospective murder of King Duncan: see the quotation.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) Something which is initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful; an apparently beneficial or benign instrument or scheme for causing death or harm.
   • Let this, Englishmen, be a leſſon to you; throw from you the doctrine of equality, as you would the poiſoned chalice. Wherever this deteſtable principle gains ground to any extent, ruin muſt inevitably enſue. 1798, Peter Porcupine [pseudonym; William Cobbett], Democratic Principles Illustrated. Part the Second. […], 4th edition, London: […] J. Wright, […], →OCLC, page 17:
   • The CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] left the Interim Government with two unresolved crises that were more akin to poisoned chalices. 2007, Ali A[bdul-Amir] Allawi, “Showdown at the Shrine”, in The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 316:
   • You need not, therefore, be surprised to hear of the vigorous blockade of the Chesapeake and Hampton Roads, and of the ports of seceded States, and that if these States erect batteries at Memphis or Vicksburgh to intercept the commerce of the Mississippi, that measures of stern retaliation or resistance will be inaugurated by the Government, to force the poisoned chalice to the lips of those who first drugged it. 1861 May 11, W. L. Underwood, “Another interview with Mr. [Abraham] Lincoln”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
   • His [Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's] role last year in persuading Ayatollah [Ruhollah] Khomeini to agree a Gulf War ceasefire – a decision the imam likened "to drinking from a poisoned chalice" – enhanced his reputation for pragmatism. 1989 June 30, Antony Walker, “Iran’s confident new face”, in The Age, Melbourne, Vic.: Fairfax Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11, column 4:
   • It is why the question of whether Labour should have accepted the support of his [Rupert Murdoch's] media empire as a gift, or spurned it as a poisoned chalice, retains a certain relevance. 2013 November 24, “Editorial: Reports of a Murdoch-Blair feud are good news for Labour”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Jun 2016:
   • Remember the death of Wilson was fearfully avenged; and those yet live who can compel you to drink the dregs of your poisoned chalice.— [...] 1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 139:
   • The great spiritual visions of human history have also been poisoned chalices, the causes of untold misery and even savagery. 1989, Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 519:
   • [W]e but teach / Bloody Inſtructions, which, being taught, returne / To plague th' Inuentor. This euen-handed Iuſtice / Commends th' Ingredience of our poyſon'd Challice / To our owne lips. c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vii], page 135, column 1:
   • “For them [the populist right], the AfD is becoming a poisoned chalice.” 2024 May 4, Guy Chazan, Leila Abboud, quoting Simon Hix, “Le Pen strains ties with German far-right”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2:

Forms

Antonyms

blessing in disguise

Hyponyms

hospital pass

Relateds

Trojan horse · white elephant · monkey's paw

Translations (29)

nn bjørneteneste (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · da bjørnetjeneste (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · nb bjørnetjeneste (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · fi karhunpalvelus (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · ru медве́жья услу́га (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · de Danaergeschenk (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · cmn 毒藥聖杯 /毒药圣杯 (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · sh medvjeđa usluga (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · gl agasallo envelenado (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · de vergiftetes Geschenk (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · sh медвеђа услуга (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · sk danajský dar (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · pl koszula Dejaniry (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · cs danajský dar (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · fr tunique de Nessus (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · sv björntjänst (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · fi myrkkymalja (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · cmn 糖衣毒藥 /糖衣毒药 (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · nl gifbeker (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · cs medvědí služba (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · fr cadeau empoisonné (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · pl niedźwiedzia przysługa (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · be мядзве́джая паслу́га (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · nl vergiftigd geschenk (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · et karuteene (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · de Bärendienst (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · es regalo envenenado (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · it regalo avvelenato (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful) · ka დათვური სამსახური (something initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful)

wikipedia: King Duncan · wikipedia: Macbeth · wikipedia: Oxford English Dictionary