as in harmless
not causing or being capable of causing injury or hurt
those innocuous lies we must tell every day if society is to remain civil
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Recent Examples of innocuous
Its eight half-hours don’t feel like time well spent so much as just spent, in ways too innocuous to hate but too tedious to treasure.
—
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 1 May 2025
The moment was lovely, thrilling, and altogether innocuous.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 17 Apr. 2025
But solar storms can also have more innocuous consequences on Earth, such as supercharged displays of the northern lights.
—Denise Chow, NBC news, 14 May 2025
Photo: Katie Ward There were times my body felt innocuous.
—Carla Sosenko, Vogue, 8 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for innocuous
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 1 May 2025
The moment was lovely, thrilling, and altogether innocuous.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 17 Apr. 2025
But solar storms can also have more innocuous consequences on Earth, such as supercharged displays of the northern lights.
—Denise Chow, NBC news, 14 May 2025
Photo: Katie Ward There were times my body felt innocuous.
—Carla Sosenko, Vogue, 8 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for innocuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for innocuous
Adjective
-
Selling such toys violates a New York law inspired by police encounters that have resulted in fatalities because the guns, though harmless, look like actual firearms.—
Ross O'Keefe,
The Washington Examiner,
27 May 2025
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These snakes are also harmless to humans, the department points out, as their diet consists primarily of rodents and other small mammals but also commonly includes lizards, birds and bird eggs.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
People.com,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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Perhaps most important, many observers at the time considered China to be relatively benign and largely content to keep its military within its own borders.—
Eric S. Edelman,
Foreign Affairs,
3 June 2025
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But a lot of people hear things that aren’t there, and some find the experience both benign and controllable.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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To insinuate yourself into someone’s life, the biggest manipulators act like the most innocent victims.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
9 June 2025
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Loew was made the mark in a kind of confidence game, Schulberg recalls, with Thalberg and Mayer putting on a show of activity at the failing Louis B. Mayer Productions that nonetheless impressed the Hollywood innocent.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Innocuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/innocuous. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.
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