as in harmful
causing or capable of causing harm
nicotine has long been recognized as a deleterious substance
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of deleterious
The Fourth Estate is under attack on many fronts, from the deleterious effects of social media to conspiracy-theory-mongers on the left and right.
—
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 15 Aug. 2025
Once considered a disease largely confined to the developed world, the deleterious effects of dementia are now apparent throughout the globe, as life expectancy increases in many formerly developing countries.
—Anand Kumar, The Conversation, 7 Aug. 2025
The city’s efforts have deleterious practical effects, too.
—The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 5 Aug. 2025
The state would wield a deleterious influence on public education, with a rounded civic understanding of Israeli democracy replaced by a more baldly nationalist and illiberal one.
—Ilan Z. Baron, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for deleterious
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 15 Aug. 2025
Once considered a disease largely confined to the developed world, the deleterious effects of dementia are now apparent throughout the globe, as life expectancy increases in many formerly developing countries.
—Anand Kumar, The Conversation, 7 Aug. 2025
The city’s efforts have deleterious practical effects, too.
—The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 5 Aug. 2025
The state would wield a deleterious influence on public education, with a rounded civic understanding of Israeli democracy replaced by a more baldly nationalist and illiberal one.
—Ilan Z. Baron, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for deleterious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deleterious
Adjective
-
The Quince style is dyed without harmful chemicals, giving the pants a one-of-a-kind look.—
Destinee Scott,
Travel + Leisure,
30 Oct. 2025
-
To Trump, of course, gutting the Civil Rights Act is likely to be a point of pride, enabling the government to focus on more urgent matters, such as protecting white students from the purportedly harmful effects of diversity-equity-and-inclusion programs.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
What To Know In a video address, Probitkin said UnitedHealthcare has offered solutions that are one-sided and would be detrimental to patients and providers and accused big insurers like UnitedHealthcare of taking advantage of regional and safety net health care providers.—
Lauren Giella,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
-
That’s not only unnecessary, but can be detrimental to the plants and the wider ecosystem.—
Erica Browne Grivas,
Better Homes & Gardens,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Working within restricted space, Lanthimos felt the need to go big with the filmmaking, both with supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Johnnie Burn’s sound design and composer Jerskin Fendrix’s music, which is by far the biggest score in the score-adverse director’s career.—
Chris O'Falt,
IndieWire,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Such issues include severe weather impacts, adverse road conditions and trash buildups that pose a threat to human and/or wildlife health.—
Michael Salerno,
AZCentral.com,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The former hurricane unleashed catastrophic flooding in Haiti, damaging homes and forcing thousands of people into emergency shelters.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Following a damaging price war, Beijing’s new five-year plan signaled the government will reduce EV subsidies and instead let the market decide winners and losers in the sector, the China-Global South Project wrote.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
But the succession crisis that her sudden and dangerous illness had brought to the fore would dominate the rest of her long reign.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Systems can be configured to identify signs of structural weaknesses, gas leaks, and other potentially dangerous stimuli emerging in hazardous areas and send data-rich alerts to operators suggesting a response.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deleterious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deleterious. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share