as in benign
not causing or being capable of causing injury or hurt
a perfectly harmless little spider
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harmless
While some bacteria is harmless, some E coli can make people sick with a wide range of issues, including diarrhea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, sepsis, and other illnesses.
—
Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Pressured by friends to join the popular online game Nerve, Vee teams up with a sly and charming competitor (Dave Franco) for just one dare in what seems like harmless fun.
—Caitlin White, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
These videos can look fun and harmless but may teach your child things that aren’t true or even safe.
—wendy Wisner, Parents, 1 Sep. 2025
For decades, sovereign citizens largely flew under the radar in Australia as relatively harmless eccentrics with a special interest in conspiracy theories.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmless
Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Pressured by friends to join the popular online game Nerve, Vee teams up with a sly and charming competitor (Dave Franco) for just one dare in what seems like harmless fun.
—Caitlin White, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
These videos can look fun and harmless but may teach your child things that aren’t true or even safe.
—wendy Wisner, Parents, 1 Sep. 2025
For decades, sovereign citizens largely flew under the radar in Australia as relatively harmless eccentrics with a special interest in conspiracy theories.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harmless
Adjective
-
But even if this ultrasound does pick up on an ovarian growth, that doesn’t tell you whether the tumor is cancerous (and most of the growths found by transvaginal ultrasound are benign).—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
5 Sep. 2025
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But levitating Treasury yields after a court ruled many of the administration's tariffs were imposed illegally has stoked some questioning of the benign equilibrium among policy, the economy and markets, prompting a wobble in equity indexes Tuesday.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Synthetic fabrics like microfiber, nylon, polyester, acrylic, and performance fabrics are all safe for at-home treatment.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
8 Sep. 2025
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This hair tool bag from Famoplay keeps straighteners, curling irons, and blowout brushes safe, organized, and away from the rest of your suitcase’s contents.—
Amelia McBride,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Unless more Democrats start being realistic, many more innocent people will unfortunately continue to suffer.—
Christopher Tremoglie,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
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Ben Lewis Doherty, playing a boy named Sam whose life is upended by Robbie, is the show’s greatest innocent, a softhearted moppet who warns deer to be careful when crossing the street.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Tuesday’s release marks the first step in an annual review called benchmarking, a previously innocuous process that’s been applied to BLS jobs data in some shape or form for 90 years.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
9 Sep. 2025
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Some of their success may also be due to a fairly innocuous body part—thumbnails.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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All of the accessories feel well-built and feature inoffensive, bordering on bland, designs.—
Iyaz Akhtar,
PC Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
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That approach amps up the comedy, especially the prevailing idea that the largely inoffensive Chad could be any kind of real threat to the staid little onstage community.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
14 July 2025
Adjective
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Lifestyle habit such as exercise and a healthy diet can help keep inflammation in check.—
Sarah Garone,
Health,
9 Sep. 2025
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Loneliness is the healthy emotion that nudges us to get off the couch and go be with people.—
Dev Patnaik,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harmless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harmless. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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