harmless

[hahrm-lis]

adjective

1. without the power or desire to do harm; innocuous.

   He looks mean but he's harmless; a harmless Halloween prank.

   Synonyms: benign, unobjectionable, innocent, mild, inoffensive

2. without injury; unhurt; unharmed.

harmless

/ ˈhɑːmlɪs /

adjective

1. not causing any physical or mental damage or injury

2. unlikely to annoy or worry people

   a harmless sort of man

Other Word Forms

• harmlessly adverb
• harmlessness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of harmless¹

1250–1300; Middle English; harm, -less

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. hold harmless, to relieve from responsibility or liability for any damage or loss. Also save harmless.

Example Sentences

"We as a society need to stop making conspiracy theorists into circus animals," he argues, as they are not "harmless".

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Gil said the vessel, which he described as "small, harmless" fishing boat, was seized "illegally and hostilely" for eight hours.

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Local residents, who call the animals “gentle” and “harmless,” have expressed outrage online over the attacks.

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It was a declaration of war, on an American city, by a sitting president, under the guise of a harmless meme.

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If the intent was merely to get off to a smooth, harmless start and break in the new guys, well … then USC certainly succeeded in that regard.

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Related Words

• gentle 
• innocent 
• innocuous 
• inoffensive 
• naive 
• nontoxic 
• painless 
• powerless 
• simple