innocuous

English

Etymology

From Latin innocuus (“harmless”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɒkjuəs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɑkjuəs/

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation: in‧noc‧u‧ous

Adjective

innocuous (comparative more innocuous, superlative most innocuous)

1. Harmless; producing no ill effect.

   Synonyms: innoxious, nonpoisonous, nontoxic, undamaging, unharmful, harmless

   Antonyms: nocuous, noxious, harmful, poisonous, toxic; see also Thesaurus:harmful

   • 1838, Richard Chenevix Trench, “Sonnet I. To England. In the Tyrol.”, in Sabbation; Honor Neale; and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, page 158:

     With its green cupola or tapering spire, / Which sunset touches with innocuous fire, / The little church appears, to sanctify / The precincts duly where men live and die— [...]

   • 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 9, in A Footnote to History:

     The shells fell for the most part innocuous; an eyewitness saw children at play beside the flaming houses; not a soul was injured.

   • 1911, Bram Stoker, “Mesmer’s Chest”, in The Lair of the White Worm, London: William Rider and Son, , →OCLC, page 110:

     Other things, too, there were, not less deadly though seemingly innocuous—dried fungi, the touch of which was death and whose poison was carried on in the air; also traps intended for birds, beast, fishes, reptiles, and insects; machines which could produce pain of any kind and degree, and the only mercy of which was the power of producing speedy death.

   • 1997, David Foster Wallace, “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN:

     The effects of any one instance of TV absorbing and pablumizing cultural tokens seems innocuous enough.

   • 2011 September 2, “Wales 2 — 1 Montenegro”, in BBC Sport‎:

     As the half closed [Gareth] Bale and [Joe] Ledley both went close with good efforts, but [Craig] Bellamy picked up a yellow card for an innocuous challenge that also rules the new Liverpool man out of the trip to Wembley.

2. Inoffensive; unprovocative; unexceptionable.

   Synonym: uncontroversial

   • 1893, Gilbert Parker, chapter 12, in Mrs. Falchion:

     Ruth Devlin announced that the song must wait, though it appeared to be innocuous and child-like in its sentiments.

   • 1910, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 29, in The Intrusion of Jimmy:

     He sat down, and lighted a cigarette, casting about the while for an innocuous topic of conversation.

Derived terms

• innocuity
• innocuously
• innocuousness

Related terms

• innocent

Translations