Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
He told a few innocuous jokes.
those innocuous lies we must tell every day if society is to remain civil
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'innocuous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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).
: not likely to bother or offend anyone
: causing no injury
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for innocuous Spanish Central: Translation of innocuous Nglish: Translation of innocuous for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of innocuous for Arabic speakers
What made you want to look up innocuous? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Challenging Vocabulary Quiz Returns!
Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!
TAKE THE QUIZTest Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Writing? Check your grammar now!