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.
“Giant” is a probing character study that raises the discomfiting question of how a man of intelligence and imagination could hold such atavistic and pernicious views.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
But there are also much more pernicious problems.
From Slate • Mar. 1, 2026
The five-year bout of high inflation is part of the pernicious legacy of the coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 23, 2026
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 • Nov. 28, 2025
Just about all he could find in its favor was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
