pernicious

[ per-nish-uhs ]
See synonyms for: perniciousperniciousness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful: pernicious teachings;a pernicious lie.

  2. deadly; fatal: a pernicious disease.

  1. Obsolete. evil; wicked.

Origin of pernicious

1
First recorded in 1515–25; from Latin perniciōsus “ruinous,” from pernici(ēs) “ruin” (from per- per- + -nici-, combining form of nex “death, murder” + -ēs, noun suffix) + -ōsus -ous

Other words for pernicious

Other words from pernicious

  • per·ni·cious·ly, adverb
  • per·ni·cious·ness, noun
  • un·per·ni·cious, adjective
  • un·per·ni·cious·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pernicious in a sentence

  • He did both these things, poor man, for it was his rôle in life always to say and do the perniciously obvious.

    The Halo | Bettina von Hutten
  • Thou hast devilishly and perniciously abstained from coming to church, and thou hast been guilty of the sin of preaching.

    The Coming of the King | James Hocking
  • These two things mutually and perniciously complete and assist each other.

  • In the case of truth, untrue beliefs work as perniciously in the long run as true beliefs work beneficially.

    Pragmatism | William James
  • Certain physiological processes come to have for him an unclean flavour which is yet perniciously attractive.

    The Nervous Child | Hector Charles Cameron

British Dictionary definitions for pernicious

pernicious

/ (pəˈnɪʃəs) /


adjective
  1. wicked or malicious: pernicious lies

  2. causing grave harm; deadly

Origin of pernicious

1
C16: from Latin perniciōsus, from perniciēs ruin, from per- (intensive) + nex death

Derived forms of pernicious

  • perniciously, adverb
  • perniciousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012