Synonyms of baneful

baneful

adjective

ˈbān-fəl 

as in harmful

causing or capable of causing harm

the incredibly baneful effect that drug addiction has on so many communities

Synonyms & Similar Words

• harmful
• adverse
• detrimental
• dangerous
• damaging
• bad
• poisonous
• pernicious
• injurious
• hazardous
• deleterious
• noxious
• evil
• baleful
• infectious
• wicked
• prejudicial
• mischievous
• hurtful
• ill
• nocuous
• hostile
• destructive
• deadly
• venomous
• sinister
• unsafe
• infective
• lethal
• inimical
• insidious
• ominous
• unfriendly
• pestilential
• risky
• threatening
• perilous
• contagious
• fatal
• pestiferous
• pestilent
• menacing
• unwholesome
• malignant
• unhealthful
• ruinous
• unhealthy
• unsound
• killer
• parlous
• nasty
• noisome
• imperilling
• imperiling
• jeopardizing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• benign
• harmless
• beneficial
• innocuous
• safe
• innocent
• useful
• advantageous
• favorable
• inoffensive
• good
• propitious
• salutary
• healthful
• wholesome
• anodyne
• curative
• salubrious
• remedial
• helpful
• healthy
• sound
• palliative
• hurtless
• secure
• benignant
• nonpoisonous
• nontoxic
• noninfectious
• nonfatal
• nondestructive
• nonlethal
• noncorrosive
• nonpolluting
• nonvenomous

Synonym Chooser

How is the word baneful different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of baneful are deleterious, detrimental, noxious, and pernicious. While all these words mean "exceedingly harmful," baneful implies injury through poisoning or destroying.

the baneful notion that discipline destroys creativity

In what contexts can deleterious take the place of baneful?

While in some cases nearly identical to baneful, deleterious applies to what has an often unsuspected harmful effect.

a diet found to have deleterious effects

When is detrimental a more appropriate choice than baneful?

The words detrimental and baneful are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, detrimental implies obvious harmfulness to something specified.

the detrimental effects of excessive drinking

Where would noxious be a reasonable alternative to baneful?

The words noxious and baneful can be used in similar contexts, but noxious applies to what is both offensive and injurious to the health of a body or mind.

noxious chemical fumes

When is it sensible to use pernicious instead of baneful?

Although the words pernicious and baneful have much in common, pernicious implies irreparable harm done through evil or insidious corrupting or undermining.

the claim that pornography has a pernicious effect on society

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of baneful

The baneful effects of war on public speech and freedoms in Russia have been well recorded. —Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Dec. 2022

The impact these soldiers had on the South was baneful. —New York Times, 14 Feb. 2022

We are mired in a baneful pandemic unlike anything endured for a century, parsing our lives into 14-day increments of health and survival — or not. —Peter M. Leschak, Star Tribune, 31 July 2020

To home in on what gives these peculiar primates their baneful bite, Fry and his colleagues collected the underarm secretions from a handful of wild slow lorises housed at a research station in Indonesia and isolated the proteins within. —Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Feb. 2020

This resulted in all the baneful consequences of the French Revolution, which Edmund Burke so brilliantly exposed in his Reflections on the Revolution in France. —Jaithirth Rao, Quartz India, 4 Nov. 2019

Chaos convincingly ebbs and flows in this rattling film, a baneful tide lapping at some of history’s most troubled shores. —Richard Lawson, HWD, 20 July 2017

Chaos convincingly ebbs and flows in this rattling film, a baneful tide lapping at some of history’s most troubled shores. —Richard Lawson, vanityfair.com, 20 July 2017