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
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Forest needed competition for Chris Wood, and the 24-year-old fits the bill as a senior Brazil international who has scored at a healthy rate back home.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Scientists found that the latter combo reduced blood sugar spikes in healthy participants.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Lawmakers have promised that schools and local governments, which receive a large share of the sales tax revenue the state collects, will be held harmless by the shift.—
Paul Egan,
Freep.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
But plenty of seemingly harmless items contribute to the mess, too.—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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These benign growths are most often asymptomatic (without symptoms) and usually found by chance during imaging for other reasons.—
MD Published,
PEOPLE,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Jones' assessments of the situation featured everything from benign, informational updates to suggesting Parsons could get hit by a car while discussing the implications of signing the 26-year-old star to a long-term deal.—
Jacob Camenker,
USA Today,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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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
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Maybe that’s the lesson the university is actually communicating to its students, beneath whatever charmingly nasal encouragement Kermit doles out on graduation day: to err on the unobjectionable side when things look dicey.—
Callie Holtermann,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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This model protects against allergens like pollen and pet dander, smoke, dust, and does it all from a place of covert, inoffensive design.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
3 Oct. 2025
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Soon, though, Shahn began to doubt whether such pleasant, inoffensive paintings sufficed.—
Nicole Rudick,
The New York Review of Books,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Typically caused by a sensitive immune system — which confuses innocuous bacteria for harmful pathogens — symptoms include fever, fatigue, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight loss, anemia, skin changes, arthritis and more.—
Vanessa Etienne,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
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These innocuous-seeming actions can kindle dry vegetation, potentially spawning a wildfire.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The $750 monthlies are pretty painless (though the building is self-managed) and get you a 49-square-foot storage locker in addition to the five closets throughout the apartment.—
Matthew Sedacca,
Curbed,
29 Sep. 2025
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Researchers at Michigan State University hope a new discovery could one day reduce the likelihood of chemotherapy-induced alopecia, giving patients an affordable, painless option to limit the damage the medicine can cause to their hair follicles.—
Kristen Jordan Shamus,
Freep.com,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Fields slept at downtown bus stops, often gathering with groups or pretending to have a firearm in her coat to stay safe.—
Ashley Hiruko,
ProPublica,
6 Oct. 2025
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No payment data was accessed within the breach, meaning information like credits cards or transaction history was safe.—
James Peckham,
PC Magazine,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nonthreatening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonthreatening. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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