pernicious
Americanadjective
-
causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful.
pernicious teachings;
a pernicious lie.
- Synonyms:
- malicious, noxious, baneful, damaging, destructive, deleterious, detrimental, harmful
-
deadly; fatal.
a pernicious disease.
- Synonyms:
- lethal
-
Obsolete. evil; wicked.
adjective
-
wicked or malicious
pernicious lies
-
causing grave harm; deadly
Other Word Forms
- perniciously adverb
- perniciousness noun
- unpernicious adjective
- unperniciously adverb
Etymology
Origin of pernicious
First recorded in 1515–25; from Latin perniciōsus “ruinous,” from pernici(ēs) “ruin” (from per- per- + -nici-, combining form of nex “death, murder” + -ēs, noun suffix) + -ōsus -ous
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 obvious dark side of this line of research is that someone who understands how to boost well-being through memory manipulation could just as easily use the same knowledge for pernicious ends.
From Los Angeles Times
Head of the National Farmers' Union Tom Bradshaw welcomed the change, telling BBC Radio 5 Live it "takes out many family farms from the eye of pernicious storm".
From BBC
Pierre Vabres, a member of the French Society of Dermatology, believes there is also a pernicious psychological effect of exposing children to beauty routines -- and then seeking to sell them products.
From Barron's
Stephen Miran, who became a Fed governor in September and is on leave as a White House adviser, co-wrote a paper last year saying more dissent would help combat “pernicious groupthink.”
The music stars urged the prime minister to stop the "extortionate and pernicious" websites that exploit fans.
From BBC
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.
