baneful
Americanadjective
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a baneful superstition.
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Archaic. deadly; poisonous.
baneful herbs.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of baneful
Explanation
Anything that's baneful is destructive or disastrous. The effects of wildfires can be baneful, causing the loss of people's homes, health, and even their lives. The baneful effects of having an incredibly difficult math class at eight in the morning don't begin to compare to the baneful results of climate change. Still, feel free to use this archaic adjective for anything you consider to be extremely harmful. It comes from the noun bane and its Old English root, bana, which means not just "killer, slayer, murderer," but also "the devil."
Vocabulary lists containing baneful
Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 1
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Metamorphoses
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The Farthest Shore
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Baneful it is like to be; since not only has he control of the mother’s conduct, but through that may also blight the happiness of the daughter.
From Gwen Wynn A Romance of the Wye by Reid, Mayne
Baneful it is like to be; since not only has he control of the mother's conduct, but through that may also blight the happiness of the daughter.
From Gwen Wynn by Reid, Mayne
Come, let us rise: the shade is wont to be Baneful to singers; baneful is the shade Cast by the juniper, crops sicken too In shade.
From The Bucolics and Eclogues by Virgil
Baneful customs, and cold indifferentism grow up in a soil that is watered by no living and unselfish love.
From Humanity in the City by Chapin, E. H. (Edwin Hubbell)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
