harmless
Americanadjective
-
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
-
without injury; unhurt; unharmed.
idioms
adjective
-
not causing any physical or mental damage or injury
-
unlikely to annoy or worry people
a harmless sort of man
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of harmless
Explanation
Things that can't hurt you are harmless. It might be hard for you to believe her when your sister tells you that her enormous pet snake is completely harmless. If your friend is scared of dogs, you can reassure her by saying, "Sure, he's 150 pounds and has a loud bark, but Fido is harmless!" Things that are safe or benign don't cause harm, and are therefore harmless, like your dad's harmless teasing or a compostable paper plate that's harmless to the environment. The word harmless originally meant "uninjured," or "not harmed," and came to mean "undamaged" by the end of the 1300s.
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.
Problems can occur, especially in people with poor kidney function or rare inherited conditions, which is why this is not a harmless wellness drip to be sold on the high street.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
The small, decorative tabletop fire pit that Anthony Trevino bought on Amazon five years ago looked harmless.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Instead, they learned only two separate things beforehand: that the blue flower provided a reward and that the ball was a movable, harmless object.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 3, 2026
In that case, taking a small amount of your money and concentrating it in a small number of stocks is harmless fun, and you might even end up owning the next Nvidia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
He seemed harmless, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that his accommodating manner, his eagerness to help us, was masking something unpleasant, something more sinister in him.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
