innocuous

adjective

in·​noc·​u·​ous i-ˈnä-kyə-wəs How to pronounce innocuous (audio)
1
: producing no injury : harmless
2
: not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility : inoffensive, insipid
innocuously adverb
innocuousness noun

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Look at the Prefix to Define Innocuous

Innocuous has harmful roots – it comes to us from the Latin adjective innocuus, which was formed by combining the negative prefix in- with a form of the verb nocēre, meaning "to harm" or "to hurt." In addition, nocēre is related to the truly "harmful" words noxious, nocent, and even nocuous. Innocent is from nocēre as well, although like innocuous it has the in- prefix negating the hurtful possibilities. Innocuous first appeared in print in the early 17th century with the clearly Latin-derived meaning "harmless or causing no injury" (as in "an innocuous gas"). The second sense is a metaphorical extension of the idea of injury, used to indicate that someone or something does not cause hurt feelings, or even strong feelings ("an innocuous book" or "innocuous issues," for example).

Examples of innocuous in a Sentence

Gossip is a relatively innocuous manifestation; fashioning one's self as eternally battling a white America mired in "racism" is a more noisome one. John McWhorter, Wall Street Journal, 17 Sept. 2003
Small and innocuous looking, the habanero is uncontested as the hottest pepper in the world, the mother of all peppers. Jim Robbins, Smithsonian, January 1992
And there was LeRoy … a somewhat gruesome but innocuous neighborhood dimwit who gave me the creeps when he sat down on the front stoop to listen to a bunch of us talking after school. Philip Roth, New York Times Book Review, 18 Oct. 1987
The salamander, an innocuous amphibian like a big newt, was also regarded with a mixture of horror and awe. David Attenborough, The First Eden, 1987
He told a few innocuous jokes. those innocuous lies we must tell every day if society is to remain civil See More
Recent Examples on the Web Kim’s interest in shiny objects may sound somewhat innocuous. Nathan Hodge, CNN, 14 Sep. 2023 While Google and Apple’s versions seem rather innocuous, there are other versions in the works from upstarts that are decidedly more focused on the wholesale replication of human relationships. Paolo Confino, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2023 Breaking news can spread quickly, as can clips that are funny in an original or strange way—but these innocuous trends feel serendipitous, like a rainbow spanning storm clouds. Cal Newport, The New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2023 The centerpiece of the campaign is a video PSA titled Monster, which portrays a seemingly innocuous man, who goes to work and interacts with others in person. Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 12 Sep. 2023 Instead, many of the current concerns revolve around weaponization of the seemingly innocuous inspection satellite. Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 5 Sep. 2023 That seemed pretty innocuous compared to the multi-grain crackers that may contain metal, two different kinds of cookies that may contain rocks, and broccoli cheddar soup and cooked falafel that might contain insects. Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 4 Sep. 2023 Last month at Big Ten Media Days, reporters asked Day an innocuous question about the Big Ten’s new scheduling model that eliminated divisions and allowed teams to retain their most storied rivalries. Jimmy Watkins, cleveland, 31 Aug. 2023 Even seemingly innocuous items like wooden desks or chairs can be riddled with bugs. Vivi Smilgius, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'innocuous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin innocuus, from in- + nocēre — see innocent entry 1

First Known Use

1631, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of innocuous was in 1631

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Dictionary Entries Near innocuous

Cite this Entry

“Innocuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innocuous. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.

Kids Definition

innocuous

adjective
in·​noc·​u·​ous in-ˈäk-yə-wəs How to pronounce innocuous (audio)
1
: producing no injury : harmless
an innocuous gas
2
: not likely to bother anyone : inoffensive
made a few innocuous jokes
innocuously adverb
innocuousness noun

Medical Definition

innocuous

adjective
in·​noc·​u·​ous in-ˈäk-yə-wəs How to pronounce innocuous (audio)
: producing no injury : not harmful
innocuously adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on innocuous

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