fruit of the poisonous tree
noun
Simple meaning
Evidence that has been get as the result of an illegal act on the part of law enforcement personnel.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
frootuhvthuhpoyzuhnuhstreeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɹuˈtʌvðəˈpɔɪzənəstˈɹi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uslawidiomatic
Evidence that has been obtained as the result of an illegal act on the part of law enforcement personnel (such as an unlawful warrantless search, or continued questioning of a witness who has invoked the right of counsel), and which is therefore excluded from being admitted as evidence in a trial.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: Evidence that has been obtained as the result of an illegal act on the part of law enforcement personnel (such as an unlawful warrantless search, or continued questioning of a witness who has invoked the right of counsel), and which is therefore excluded from being admitted as evidence in a trial.
Used this way, fruit of the poisonous tree is a specialist word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It stays understated rather than dramatic. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Curious and questioning
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.