Definition of INNOCUOUS (original) (raw)

2

: not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility : inoffensive, insipid

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Innocuous has harmful roots – it comes to us from the Latin adjective innocuus, which was formed by combining the negative prefix in- with a form of the verb nocēre, meaning "to harm" or "to hurt." In addition, nocēre is related to the truly "harmful" words noxious, nocent, and even nocuous. Innocent is from nocēre as well, although like innocuous it has the in- prefix negating the hurtful possibilities. Innocuous first appeared in print in the early 17th century with the clearly Latin-derived meaning "harmless or causing no injury" (as in "an innocuous gas"). The second sense is a metaphorical extension of the idea of injury, used to indicate that someone or something does not cause hurt feelings, or even strong feelings ("an innocuous book" or "innocuous issues," for example).

Synonyms

Examples of innocuous in a Sentence

Gossip is a relatively innocuous manifestation; fashioning one's self as eternally battling a white America mired in "racism" is a more noisome one. —John McWhorter, Wall Street Journal, 17 Sept. 2003 Small and innocuous looking, the habanero is uncontested as the hottest pepper in the world, the mother of all peppers. —Jim Robbins, Smithsonian, January 1992 And there was LeRoy … a somewhat gruesome but innocuous neighborhood dimwit who gave me the creeps when he sat down on the front stoop to listen to a bunch of us talking after school. —Philip Roth, New York Times Book Review, 18 Oct. 1987 The salamander, an innocuous amphibian like a big newt, was also regarded with a mixture of horror and awe. —David Attenborough, The First Eden, 1987

He told a few innocuous jokes. those innocuous lies we must tell every day if society is to remain civil

Recent Examples on the Web Next, a seemingly innocuous AI prompt about your organization could inadvertently expose the sensitive information, leading to significant data breaches and possibly substantial financial and reputational damage. —Anand Kashyap, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024 Likewise, while most are innocuous and even cute, sleeping positions can also raise red flags about your cat’s health. —Discover Magazine, 3 Sep. 2024 The menu looked innocuous enough to me: schnitzel, goulash, roasted pork tenderloin, and duck confit served with red cabbage and dumplings. —David Farley, Travel + Leisure, 1 Sep. 2024 Most articles were innocuous, but some occasionally veered into sharp criticism of Democrats for funding aid to Ukraine instead of domestic priorities. —Kevin Collier, NBC News, 15 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for innocuous

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'innocuous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin innocuus, from in- + nocēre — see innocent entry 1

First Known Use

1631, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of innocuous was in 1631

Dictionary Entries Near innocuous

Cite this Entry

“Innocuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innocuous. Accessed 30 Sep. 2024.

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Last Updated: 16 Sep 2024 - Updated example sentences

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