as in harmless
not causing or being capable of causing injury or hurt
those innocuous lies we must tell every day if society is to remain civil
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Recent Examples of innocuous
The report itself that came out from his physician was mostly fairly innocuous.
—
NBC news, 31 May 2026
And many other beneficial and innocuous microbes will adapt too, with unknown, and far-reaching, effects.
—Shayla Love, New Yorker, 28 May 2026
This leads us to believe that seemingly innocuous, practical policy changes may exert greater influence on women’s reproductive choices than even public outrage over an injustice.
—Kimberly Turner, The Conversation, 22 May 2026
But the Harry comments were pretty innocuous in comparison to the Andrew jokes.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 22 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for innocuous
NBC news, 31 May 2026
And many other beneficial and innocuous microbes will adapt too, with unknown, and far-reaching, effects.
—Shayla Love, New Yorker, 28 May 2026
This leads us to believe that seemingly innocuous, practical policy changes may exert greater influence on women’s reproductive choices than even public outrage over an injustice.
—Kimberly Turner, The Conversation, 22 May 2026
But the Harry comments were pretty innocuous in comparison to the Andrew jokes.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 22 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for innocuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for innocuous
Adjective
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Acknowledging its decision to err on the side of caution, Anthropic said Fable 5’s safety-first approach might incorrectly flag harmless requests as being suspicious for less than 5% of queries.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
11 June 2026
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What felt like harmless office culture back then has evolved into a much broader shift in how people approach work.—
Aytekin Tank,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
Adjective
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Many spreading this story are doing so with little or no evidence of wrongdoing and are instead relying on information that is false or can be explained by more benign reasons.—
Andrew Khouri,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2026
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That something so benign could wreak so much havoc against the backdrop of a place as humdrum as a corner restaurant is what makes the story (written by TZ mainstay Richard Matheson) so terrifying.—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
Adjective
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Why kill an innocent man for crossing an arbitrary line in the sand?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
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Three people are dead and she, a completely innocent party in this whole mess, is left holding the check.—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Innocuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/innocuous. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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