as in benign
not causing or being capable of causing injury or hurt
a perfectly harmless little spider
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harmless
Murmurs can be harmless (known as innocent murmurs).
—
Patty Weasler, Rn, Bsn, Verywell Health, 13 Feb. 2025
Image At first, the inventions seem useful or harmless or — to us, smack in the middle of the timeline — hopelessly obsolete.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2025
What begins as a harmless joke evolves into a chaotic adventure, drawing in a cast of misfit characters, including gangsters and bumbling police officers.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 3 Feb. 2025
While some argue that eating an item with the intent to pay for it later is harmless, others point out that this habit often crosses a line.
—Justin Gest, Newsweek, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmless
Patty Weasler, Rn, Bsn, Verywell Health, 13 Feb. 2025
Image At first, the inventions seem useful or harmless or — to us, smack in the middle of the timeline — hopelessly obsolete.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2025
What begins as a harmless joke evolves into a chaotic adventure, drawing in a cast of misfit characters, including gangsters and bumbling police officers.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 3 Feb. 2025
While some argue that eating an item with the intent to pay for it later is harmless, others point out that this habit often crosses a line.
—Justin Gest, Newsweek, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harmless
Adjective
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The interrogation—albeit benign—at secondary inspection signaled the beginning.—
Justin Gest,
Newsweek,
10 Feb. 2025
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Pollard revealed that the seemingly benign legislation benefited Goggin’s longtime friend and sometime business partner, Dennis Krieger, who was underwriting a stock sale for a company that made the only devices Goggin’s legislation would finance.—
Dan Walters,
Orange County Register,
5 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Air travel is the absolute safest form of transportation, according to a 2024 Transportation Statistics Report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA TODAY,
19 Feb. 2025
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Disaster relief will distribute direct cash aid for Angeleno’s most critical needs, as well as coordinated efforts to clear hazardous waste, test water quality and restore safe living conditions.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
18 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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This innocent man spent over three decades behind bars.—
Yash Roy,
CNN,
23 Feb. 2025
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The story itself was a typically innocent Shirley Temple tale, in this a young girl who tries to reconcile her parents and her grandfather after her mother marries a Yankee.—
Marc Berman,
Forbes,
22 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Last week, Judge Carl J. Nichols, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, took the seemingly innocuous step of extending an order temporarily barring the U.S. Agency for International Development from involuntarily evacuating its employees from overseas assignments.—
Alan Feuer,
New York Times,
22 Feb. 2025
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In what initially seemed to be a rather innocuous post on Instagram, Hill called for all his fans to meet him at the Aventura Mall, the location of his Soul Runner store.—
C. Isaiah Smalls II,
Miami Herald,
22 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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What to do instead: Make the task itself more pleasant or at least inoffensive.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
31 Jan. 2025
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Review: As Golden Globes host, Nikki Glaser delivered a good time at Hollywood’s party night: Despite a long ceremony chock full of awards, emcee Nikki Glaser kept the show moving along with lightly cutting and relatively inoffensive jokes.—
Matt Brennan,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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However, activists concerned with animal rights, the environment, the rights of farmers, and human health are already working to ease the distortions of the subsidy system and align government subsidies with recommendations as to what constitutes a healthy, sustainable diet.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
14 Feb. 2025
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Carter started three of 11 games, missing time with a wrist injury, but was a healthy scratch throughout the playoffs.—
Tim Graham,
The Athletic,
14 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harmless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harmless. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025.
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