innocuous
adjective
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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).
Synonyms
Examples of innocuous in a Sentence
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
Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 18 June 2024
As paparazzi photos go, these were rather innocuous: a series of snaps of Bridgerton star Luke Newton leaving the London after-party for the premiere of the second half of the show’s third season.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 14 June 2024
Jensen argued during his opening statement Monday that Stanley’s comments to the media about the Morphew case were innocuous and that an inquiry into the personal life of the judge on the case was not used to retaliate against him.
—Shelly Bradbury, The Denver Post, 10 June 2024
Some innocuous friend suggestions; pushy requests to link your Contacts; and a spinning wheel of crass but harmless fluff.
—Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for innocuous 
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.
Dictionary Entries Near innocuous
Cite this Entry
“Innocuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innocuous. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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innocuous
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