harmless

adjective

harm·​less ˈhärm-ləs 

1

: free from harm, liability, or loss

2

: lacking capacity or intent to injure : innocuous

a harmless joke

harmlessly adverb

harmlessness noun

Synonyms

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

Examples of harmless in a Sentence

His ideas seem harmless enough.

We're just having a bit of harmless fun.

It was just a harmless joke.

Recent Examples on the Web

The parchment tube worm is a couple of inches long and about a half-inch wide and is harmless, Seid said. —Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 June 2025

Generally, face yoga exercises are harmless, Alam said. —Kameryn Griesser, CNN Money, 21 June 2025

Some call it a harmless satire, and others assert the image is regressive for women — even bordering on glorifying domestic violence. —Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 18 June 2025

Consider a village where a cancer occurs in two forms—one fast and fatal, the other slow and largely harmless. —Siddhartha Mukherjee, New Yorker, 16 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

harmless

adjective

harm·​less ˈhärm-ləs 

1

: free from harm

2

: unable to harm

harmlessly adverb

harmlessness noun

Legal Definition

harmless

adjective

harm·​less

1

: free from harm, liability, or loss

—often used in the phrase to hold harmless see also hold harmless

2

: lacking capacity or intent to injure

harmlessly adverb

harmlessness noun