noxious

Harmful; injurious.

Adjective

  1. Harmful; injurious.
    • In the living state, the body is observed to […] reject what is noxious; [...] - 1822, John Barclay, chapter I, in An Inquiry Into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, Concerning Life and Organization, Edinburgh; London:...
    • [...] many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair. If that repair does not come in time, the result is noxious and potentially hazardous. - 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume...
    • Immediately upon joining, Ms. Yaccarino had her work cut out for her. Mr. Musk quickly made changes that tore up much of the good will Twitter had with users, employees and advertisers, including changing speech...

Origin

From Latin noxius (“hurtful, injurious”), from noxa (“hurt, injury”), from nocere (“to hurt, injure”); see nocent.

Forms

more noxious most noxious noctious

Synonyms

harmful injurious scathing

Related

obnoxious nocent innocent

Derived

nonnoxious noxiously noxiousness noxious stimulus noxious trade unnoxious