Definition of INNOCUOUS

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).

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

But that didn't stop critics from lumping her in with the dozens of white people who have sicced the police on people of color for innocuous activities. — Cleve R. Wootson Jr., OrlandoSentinel.com, "Woman threatens to call police on 8-year-old selling water for trip to Disneyland," 24 June 2018 That one more frivolous scolding about an innocuous activity could be averted is a small victory for reason, which amounts to more than a hill of arabica beans in this crazy world. — Josh Gohlke, SFChronicle.com, "Last Word: Coffee reprieve grounds for celebration," 22 June 2018 The atmosphere is somewhat innocuous with lots of general warmth in the northern Hemisphere. — Dave Epstein, BostonGlobe.com, "What’s the weather going to be like the rest of the summer?," 6 July 2018 Because poor black men and brown men in California have had decades' worth of good reasons to fear cops approaching for the most innocuous reasons. — Marcos Bretón, sacbee, "Governor Deukmejian – Nice guy with an awful legacy | The Sacramento Bee," 18 May 2018 The justices noted that the teen looks up most to his brother — who had been in prison but turned his life around — and that even the most innocuous posting about his sibling could result in the teen being jailed for violating his probation. — Steve Schmadeke, chicagotribune.com, "Illinois courts clash: Does limiting juvenile offenders' social media use step on free speech?," 4 Apr. 2018 Bad actors can use locally installed malware to steal a victim device's computing power, embed miners directly into websites to target casual web users without needing to install anything, or hide miners in the most innocuous applets and tools. — Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, "Google Bans All Cryptomining Extensions From the Chrome Store," 2 Apr. 2018 Not everything is so political, though even the most innocuous images harbor an element of uncanny unease. — Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, "Geoff Dyer Takes to the Streets With Garry Winogrand," 28 Mar. 2018 That's the most innocuous time frame to have a meal. — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "Demi Lovato and Wilmer Valderrama Had Lunch Together, Probably Not Dating Again," 26 Feb. 2018

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.