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
- harmlessly adverb
- harmlessness noun
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.
The prosecution failed to meet its burden to demonstrate, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the constitutional error was harmless, the justices concluded.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026
At the same time, I have come to regard my tech tweaks as a relatively harmless nonhuman gesture.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
Therefore, no affected person was in the courtroom to refute the therapist’s claim that, since she only deploys speech, her counseling is harmless and deserves First Amendment protection.
From Slate • Apr. 3, 2026
Is it harmless fun—like guessing about the Nobel—or not?
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
“Well”—he rubbed his hands together—“let’s see. There are a few options here. Possession is one. Maybe not by a demon, but by something a little more harmless, like a goblin or imp.”
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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.
