adjective
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involving great risk
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depending on chance
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hazardous
Explanation
The noun "hazard" means something dangerous, and the adjective hazardous refers to anything that involves danger. A golf course with lots of sand traps is especially hazardous for golfers. That's why those traps are called hazards. If your car blows a tire in the middle of the night, make sure to turn on your hazard lights. Being invisible to other drivers is hazardous to everyone, especially yourself. Life is, by definition, hazardous. It's full of dangers, both obvious and otherwise. Acknowledge that fact and keep going anyway. If you spend all your time focusing on what's hazardous, you end up missing all the wonderful things in life.
Vocabulary lists containing hazardous
"The Banana Tree," Vocabulary from the short story
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Divergent
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List 7
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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.
But a Park Service official testified Monday that none of the trees removed Saturday had been identified as hazardous.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
Such agents help reactions proceed by accepting or donating electrons, but some can be hazardous to handle and generate unwanted waste.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
David McFarlane, a marine safety consultant, said the longer the voyage, the more risk of encountering hazardous sea conditions.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
During the summer, the sheriff’s bomb squad and the naval explosive ordnance disposal unit also responded to the beach to pick up a much more hazardous item, a Super Bazooka round.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
And with my balance not what it should’ve been, to run across the floor felt a little hazardous.
From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
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.
