deleterious
[del-i-teer-ee-uh s]
- injurious to health: deleterious gases.
- harmful; injurious: deleterious influences.
Origin of deleterious
1635–45; < Greek dēlētḗrios destructive, adj. derivative of dēlētḗr destroyer, equivalent to dēlē- variant stem of dēleîsthai to hurt, injure + -tēr agent suffix + -ios adj. suffix; see -ious
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com2. pernicious, hurtful, destructive; noxious.
Antonyms
2. beneficial.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for deleterious
Contemporary Examples
But it is indeed in Uttar Pradesh that we see the deepest sympathy for this deleterious machismo.
Drugs are becoming more powerful with prescription painkillers used to enhance effect and prolong a deleterious pleasure.
But the truth is that they have real and deleterious effects on conservative politics.
Corporations exerted an unchecked and deleterious influence on the lives of workers.
How much of these problems can be credited to the deleterious effects of enormous inherited wealth, we will never know.
Historical Examples
But it is also true that some of the most deleterious books we have are romances.
Moreover, slavish imitation in any art has a deleterious influence.
Style in SingingW. E. Haslam
I hope the bill will pass without any deleterious amendments.
Mark Twain's SpeechesMark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
War is unlikely to begin in India, and the climate is deleterious in the summer months.
The Dark TowerPhyllis Bottome
The vapor of charcoal in a close room is so deleterious as to cause death.
Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-BookEliza Leslie
deleterious
- harmful; injurious; hurtful
Word Origin
C17: from New Latin dēlētērius, from Greek dēlētērios injurious, destructive, from dēleisthai to hurt
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for deleterious
adj.
1640s, from Medieval Latin deleterius, from Greek deleterios "noxious," from deleter "destroyer," from deleisthai "to hurt, injure." Related: Deleteriously; deleteriousness.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
deleterious
(dĕl′ĭ-tîr′ē-əs)
- Having a harmful effect; injurious.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.