nocuous

American  

[nok-yoo-uhs] / ˈnɒk yu əs /

adjective

1. likely to cause damage or injury; harmful; noxious.

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nocuous British  

/ ˈnɒkjʊəs /

adjective

1. rare harmful; noxious

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Other Word Forms

• nocuously adverb
• nocuousness noun

Etymology

Origin of nocuous

First recorded in 1625–35; < Latin nocuus “harmful, injurious,” equivalent to noc(ēre) “to harm, hurt” + -uus adjective suffix; -ous

Example Sentences

The time has passed for hysteria, and national introspection should determine which particular fibre of our national morality was so sick as to permit this alarming infestation by the nocuous creature.

From Time Magazine Archive

An in nocuous substitute to the amendment was approved by a voice vote.

From Time Magazine Archive

It looks flat, decorative and in nocuous � until one notices that the gleaming "stroke" of red-sprayed met al, lying flat on the floor, could also be the reaping blade of a scythe.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is perhaps nothing nocuous in his creed, as he expressed it in a formal interview: "I hope … poetry … is reflecting faith … in God and His Son and the Holy Ghost."

From The Poet's Poet : essays on the character and mission of the poet as interpreted in English verse of the last one hundred and fifty years by Atkins, Elizabeth