as in harmless
not causing or being capable of causing injury or hurt
an inoffensive little joke at the opening of his speech
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Recent Examples of inoffensive
But its efforts to remain anonymous and inoffensive have been undone by allegations of labor abuses, environmental criticisms and, despite moving its headquarters to Singapore, persistent concerns about its Chinese ownership.
—
Timothy McLaughlin, Wired News, 5 May 2025
The actual criterion, however, has tended to be a sort of weak-willed, inoffensive obsequiousness, such that all the countries on the Security Council will approve of you—and can use you as a scapegoat whenever necessary.
—Amanda Chicago Lewis, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
At night, be warned that a red light district — largely inoffensive (depending in your POV) but real — sits behind the hotel and envelops a Thai boxing ring.
—Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
Believing in any conspiracy theory, even one that seems as inoffensive or silly as the flat Earth theory, can set a person up to fall into larger conspiracy theories, Dashtgard says, like the idea that feminism is a global conspiracy meant to drag men down.
—Fortesa Latifi, Rolling Stone, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inoffensive
Timothy McLaughlin, Wired News, 5 May 2025
The actual criterion, however, has tended to be a sort of weak-willed, inoffensive obsequiousness, such that all the countries on the Security Council will approve of you—and can use you as a scapegoat whenever necessary.
—Amanda Chicago Lewis, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
At night, be warned that a red light district — largely inoffensive (depending in your POV) but real — sits behind the hotel and envelops a Thai boxing ring.
—Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
Believing in any conspiracy theory, even one that seems as inoffensive or silly as the flat Earth theory, can set a person up to fall into larger conspiracy theories, Dashtgard says, like the idea that feminism is a global conspiracy meant to drag men down.
—Fortesa Latifi, Rolling Stone, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inoffensive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inoffensive
Adjective
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Ultimately harmless, this was the piece of the bomb that would ignite the charge in the main body of the projectile.—
Michael Jerome Plunkett
September 5,
Literary Hub,
5 Sep. 2025
-
This compulsion to celebrate himself in general, and to celebrate such a juvenile, harmless gesture in particular, should be yet another reason to lose all patience with Lee Raybon.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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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
Cite this Entry
“Inoffensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inoffensive. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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