noxious
[nok-shuh s]
- harmful or injurious to health or physical well-being: noxious fumes.
- morally harmful; corrupting; pernicious: a noxious plan to spread dissension.
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Origin of noxious
Synonyms
See more synonyms for noxious on Thesaurus.com1. hurtful, unwholesome, unhealthy, nocuous, detrimental, deleterious. 2. corruptive.
Antonyms
1, 2. harmless.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for noxious
Contemporary Examples
Eric Cantor was a noxious, cookie-cutter, U.S. Chamber, GOP hypocrite.
The most noxious of these figures is New York University professor and Nation magazine contributor Stephen Cohen.
When I got out of the car I was assailed by another of the noxious stinks that Lufkin is distinguished for.
‘The Land of the Permanent Wave’ Is Bud Shrake’s Classic Take on ‘60s TexasEdwin Shrake
February 2, 2014
Only the advancement of liberal democracy could serve as an antidote to the noxious strains of Islamism emanating from the region.
Dressed in his gray suit, he sat in stillness as the noxious fumes billowed into the cabin of his blue Chevy Chevelle.
The Professor and the Doomsday Clock: ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ & Signs of John Kennedy Toole’s SuicideCory MacLauchlin
December 17, 2012
Historical Examples
No, he does not find it; brambles are there and noxious weeds galore.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
The excreta of that army of sick poisoned the air with their noxious emanations.
The DownfallEmile Zola
At Verdun, along the entire frontier, there were nests of these noxious vermin.
A Nest of SpiesPierre Souvestre
With blood and iron we will ourselves stamp out this noxious breed.
The Burning SpearJohn Galsworthy
Now it happens that he is noxious to us—let the reasons be what they may.
St. Martin's SummerRafael Sabatini
noxious
- poisonous or harmful
- harmful to the mind or morals; corrupting
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin noxius harmful, from noxa injury
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for noxious
adj.
c.1500, from Latin noxius "hurtful, injurious," from noxa "injury, hurt, damage entailing liability" (related to nocere "to hurt," and to nex "slaughter"), from PIE *nek-ro-, causative form of root *nek- "death" (see necro-).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
noxious
(nŏk′shəs)- Harmful to living things; injurious to health.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.