innocuous

Intermediatezipf 3.06

Pronunciation

/ɪˈnɒkjuəs/(ih-NOK-yoo-us)

Part of speech

adjectiveformal

Chinese

无害的；无关紧要的

Definition

Not harmful or offensive; unlikely to provoke strong feelings.

Word family

  • innocuously/ɪˈnɒkjuəsli/(adv)无害地

Collocations

  • innocuous remark
  • seemingly innocuous
  • innocuous substance
  • innocuous question

Examples

  1. 1.It seemed like an innocuous question, but it led to a heated argument. (harmless on the surface)
  2. 2.The drug was thought to be innocuous until side effects appeared. (not harmful — or so it seemed)

Synonyms

  • harmless/ˈhɑːmləs/— causing no harm, simple
  • inoffensive/ˌɪnəˈfɛnsɪv/— not likely to offend
  • benign/bɪˈnaɪn/— gentle, not dangerous

Etymology

in- (not) + nocuus (harmful) — "nocere" = to harm — not harmful