innocuous

adjective

in·​noc·​u·​ous i-ˈnä-kyə-wəs 

1

: producing no injury : harmless

2

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

innocuously adverb

innocuousness noun

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Look at the Prefix to Define Innocuous

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

• anodyne
• benign
• harmless
• hurtless
• innocent
• inoffensive
• safe
• white

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

The Biden administration has said repeatedly that the proliferation of drone sightings are innocuous. —Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 19 Dec. 2024

On a seemingly innocuous nature walk to some local caverns, Homer stupidly touches a giant stalactite and opens a hole in the ground through which the family falls. —Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2024

For example, a seemingly innocuous detail about an individual’s location might become sensitive when combined with other information. —Vinay Goel, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024

Through the lens of a positive drug test, even something as innocuous as missing some prenatal appointments becomes potential evidence that a mother is a risk to her baby. —Shoshana Walter, USA TODAY, 11 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1631, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

innocuous

adjective

in·​noc·​u·​ous in-ˈäk-yə-wəs 

1

: producing no injury : harmless

an innocuous gas

2

: not likely to bother anyone : inoffensive

made a few innocuous jokes

innocuously adverb

innocuousness noun

Medical Definition

innocuous

adjective

in·​noc·​u·​ous in-ˈäk-yə-wəs 

: producing no injury : not harmful

innocuously adverb