WordValeinnocuous
not harmful or offensive
In more detail
1. (adjective) not harmful or dangerous; safe and unlikely to cause problems
2. (adjective) not interesting or offensive; not likely to upset or offend anyone
Examples
- 1. The medicine has no serious side effects; it is considered innocuous for most people.
- 2. He made some innocuous comments about the weather.
How to use innocuous
Innocuous describes something that is safe, harmless, or unlikely to cause offense or controversy. It is often used to downplay the significance of something or to characterize something as unproblematic, though it can carry a subtle implication that the thing in question might have seemed problematic but is actually benign.
Common phrases
- innocuous remark
- innocuous mistake
- seemingly innocuous
- perfectly innocuous
- innocuous comment
Synonyms
harmless · benign · inoffensive · safe · uncontroversial
Opposites
harmful · dangerous · offensive
Word family
innocuously (adverb) · innocuousness (noun)
A common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse innocuous (harmless) with innocent (not guilty or naive), which have different meanings and uses.
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