The term “poisoning the well” refers to a form of ad hominem fallacy. This is an attempt to discredit the argument of another by implying that they possess an unsavory trait, or that they’re affiliated with beliefs or people that are wrong or unpopular. A well-known form of this, which has its own name—Godwin’s Law or the reductio ad Hitlerum—refers to an attempt at poisoning the well by drawing an analogy between another’s position and Hitler or the Nazis.
