harmless

harm·less

adjective \ˈhärm-ləs\

Definition of HARMLESS

1

: free from harm, liability, or loss

2

: lacking capacity or intent to injure : innocuous <a harmless joke>

— harm·less·ly adverb

— harm·less·ness noun

Examples of HARMLESS

1. His ideas seem harmless enough.
2. We're just having a bit of harmless fun.
3. It was just a harmless joke.

First Known Use of HARMLESS

14th century

Related to HARMLESS

Synonyms

anodyne, benign, hurtless, innocent, innocuous, inoffensive, safe, white

Antonyms

adverse, bad, baleful, baneful, damaging, dangerous, deleterious, detrimental, evil, harmful, hurtful, ill, injurious, mischievous, nocuous, noxious, pernicious, prejudicial, wicked

Related Words

healthful, healthy, salubrious, wholesome; benignant; sound, trustworthy; gentle, gracious, mild; nonthreatening, painless, unobjectionable; noncorrosive, nondestructive, nonfatal, noninfectious, nonlethal, nonpoisonous, nonpolluting, nontoxic, nonvenomous

Near Antonyms

poisonous, venomous; menacing, ominous, sinister, threatening; hazardous, imperiling (or imperilling), jeopardizing, parlous, perilous, risky, unsafe, unsound; nasty, noisome, unhealthful, unhealthy, unwholesome; offensive, painful, scathing, wounding; deadly, fatal, lethal, ruinous; destructive, insidious, malignant, noxious, pestilent, polluted, tainted

Rhymes with HARMLESS

armless, charmless