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
These feel natural and nonthreatening but still move the conversation forward.
—
Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for nonthreatening
Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for nonthreatening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonthreatening
Adjective
-
How to make even healthy eating affordable One way to make more expensive items like meat and seafood more affordable is to buy them in bulk.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
31 Jan. 2026
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However, researchers noted that fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is used today as a treatment to restore gut flora in the colon, representing a modern application for healthy feces.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
31 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The bacteria are generally harmless in the gut, but when shed in feces and transferred to the urinary tract, the microbes can travel up the urethra and settle in the bladder.—
Miriam Fauzia,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Skin tags and cherry angiomas Skin tags are harmless growths that can appear anywhere on your skin but most commonly develop on the neck, eyelids, or underarms.—
Alex Vance,
Parents,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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But as her parents Michelle and Mark Sneddon told STV news, it was dismissed as benign hormonal changes.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
PEOPLE,
29 Jan. 2026
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Will longer-term Treasury yields stay in their benign range as all this unfolds?—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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While a standard Whiskey Sour is a delightful experience, almost invariably mixed with bourbon and made smooth and unobjectionable with egg white, the Rattlesnake is that same framework but greener.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
10 Jan. 2026
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After all, humans often intervene in the natural order in morally unobjectionable ways.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
13 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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That’s sort of what this number, also worn by the women’s team AG Insurance-Soudal, looks like, but the best word to describe this is ‘inoffensive’.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
21 Jan. 2026
-
Plus, the jojoba oil gives it a light, inoffensive smell that’s heavenly to inhale compared to the strong, cloying scents of other men’s products.—
Irene Richardson,
InStyle,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The calls were fairly innocuous and typically would not raise eyebrows.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2026
-
With a full roster in hand, the group will call employees directly, pretending to be a new hire with innocuous-seeming questions about platforms, cloud access, and other tech infrastructure.—
Amanda Gerut,
Fortune,
1 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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All these people and all this effort are required to make the Bridgertons’ lives painless and pleasant.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
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The procedure generally takes under an hour in total and should be completely painless.—
Hedy Phillips,
PEOPLE,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
This bipartisan, bicameral reform deserves quick passage so servicemembers and their families have a safe place to call home.—
JAMES HERRERA MONTEREY HERALD,
Arkansas Online,
30 Jan. 2026
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Things like inflation, central bank interest rate changes, and currency fluctuations all affect whether people see Bitcoin as a risky asset to buy when the economy is good or, alternatively, a safe haven when things are unstable.—
K.H. Koehler,
jsonline.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nonthreatening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonthreatening. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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