as in offensiveness
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Recent Examples of harmfulness
While pollinators die in large numbers due to exposure to neonicotinoids, those trying to save bees are forced to prove the harmfulness of the substances used in pesticides, while industry pushes back.
—
Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 27 Sep. 2025
Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 27 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harmfulness
Noun
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The push came amid concerns about the offensiveness of the name.—
Harrison Mantas,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 Oct. 2025
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There was a Lynchian quality to the podcast, a fun-house-size absurdism that offset its overt offensiveness.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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It’s filled with super-heightened emotions; unrestrained passion, betrayal, evil and even a magic spell or two.—
David Lyman,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
5 Feb. 2026
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Sumo wrestlers participated in a ritual to expel evil from the grounds.—
Lydia Price,
PEOPLE,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Brain imaging studies of criminality going back to 2009 have suggested that damage to a swath of white matter called the right uncinate fasciculus is somehow involved when people commit violent acts.—
Christopher M. Filley,
The Conversation,
3 Feb. 2026
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The government, along with much of purple and red America, pound the message that ICE in Minnesota is all about state corruption and criminality.—
Ed Bok Lee,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Denver author Josiah Hesse was raised by Evangelical parents in churches that believe in the torments of hell, that their poverty is due to their sinfulness and lack of faith.—
Sandra Dallas,
Denver Post,
1 Feb. 2026
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This lawless crew shares dramaturgical DNA with the vice figures from medieval morality plays, personifications of sinfulness who would confide their schemes to the audience and make theatergoers their co-conspirators in a riveting game that obviously left its mark on a young Shakespeare.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Jan. 2026
Noun
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This approach can be applied to any behavior, including crime and immorality.—
Christopher M. Filley,
The Conversation,
3 Feb. 2026
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One celebrates the beauty and moral uplift of the Sabbath; the other denounces the immorality of the godless in the fiery manner of a tent-revival preacher.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
22 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Pearl revels in wickedness, presenting a literary world in which a successful writer’s haughtiness is both encouraged and rewarded.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
15 Dec. 2025
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But despite this being the internet, there’s no wickedness being thrust around — everyone’s taking the chance to get in on a memeless rollout.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
25 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harmfulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harmfulness. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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