as in healthy
not likely to cause someone to be afraid or worried; not threatening
It's best to approach the dog in a calm, nonthreatening way.
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Recent Examples of nonthreatening
Pittsburgh Penguins The Athletic rating: 3.5 (6th) Fan rating: 3.7 (7th)
McIndoe: Penguins are adorable, nonthreatening and almost completely harmless.
—
James Mirtle, New York Times, 20 May 2025
That last one may simply be unique to Logan Lerman, the latest nonthreatening boy to take center stage in HAIM’s new album rollout.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025
Her previous recipes have included homemade marmalade, ratatouille, pasta from scratch, and tzatziki dip, which all sound lovely and nonthreatening.
—Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 31 Mar. 2023
Talk over your concerns with your boss in a nonthreatening and professional way.
—Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for nonthreatening
James Mirtle, New York Times, 20 May 2025
That last one may simply be unique to Logan Lerman, the latest nonthreatening boy to take center stage in HAIM’s new album rollout.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025
Her previous recipes have included homemade marmalade, ratatouille, pasta from scratch, and tzatziki dip, which all sound lovely and nonthreatening.
—Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 31 Mar. 2023
Talk over your concerns with your boss in a nonthreatening and professional way.
—Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for nonthreatening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonthreatening
Adjective
-
Air frying is healthier, faster, and doesn't splatter grease all over your kitchen.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Even when participants’ average blood pressure seemed healthy, those with the most erratic readings — combined with stiffer arteries — showed telltale signs of brain aging, the study found.—
Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
So that seemingly innocent Machu Picchu stamp—one of the most popular souvenir stamps around—could be viewed not as a harmless keepsake but as an unauthorized alteration that might jeopardize your ability to travel.—
Lauren Dana Ellman,
Travel + Leisure,
25 Oct. 2025
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This time, two small polyps were removed and found to be harmless.—
Bryant Stamford,
Louisville Courier Journal,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
But what had once been raucous and raunchy mischief, was now benign horseplay.—
Time,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
-
According to a 2015 Time Magazine story, the tradition of benign pranks began sometime in the 1930s and 1940s in the United States, brought on perhaps as a way to defuse the tensions of economic devastation and the pain of war.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
But the triumph is unobjectionable, unquestionable.—
Robert Birsel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Despite a solid cast and some decent jokes, the series rarely rises above the level of pleasantly unobjectionable, much less distinctly memorable.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The chocolate and vanilla are straightforward and inoffensive, but the Chocolate Banana and Cold Brew Coffee are where Koia really shines.—
Alaina Chou,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
30 Oct. 2025
-
The couple turns out to be blandly inoffensive, and after their brief encounter, the two women change their topic of conversation, moving on to dating and the narrator’s experience using dating apps.—
Rhian Sasseen,
The Atlantic,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
These seemingly innocuous actions can kindle dry grass, potentially triggering a wildfire.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
29 Oct. 2025
-
But these seemingly innocuous decisions could stand to pose a serious threat to society at large, as argued below.—
Yoshua Bengio,
Time,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Brunch is a supremely painless solution for fulfilling certain social obligations.—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
Denver Post,
28 Oct. 2025
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Seizing Kinmen and other outlying islands would be relatively painless for China.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Contractors working on the project recently completed pouring the foundation for what will provide smaller housing units meant to make quarantining detainees with communicable illnesses safer and easier.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
3 Nov. 2025
-
In extremely dense fog where visibility is near zero, the best course of action is to first turn on your hazard lights, then simply pull into a safe location such as a parking lot of a local business, and stop.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nonthreatening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonthreatening. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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