harmless

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by WingerBot (talk | contribs) as of 15:06, 28 September 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

Etymology

From Middle English harmles, from Old English *hearmlēas, from Proto-Germanic *harmalausaz (“without harm; harmless”), equivalent to harm +‎ -less.

Cognate with German harmlos (“harmless”), Danish harmløs (“harlmess”), Swedish harmlös (“harmless”).

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈhɑɹmləs/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈhɑːmləs/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

harmless (comparative more harmless, superlative most harmless)

  1. Incapable of causing harm or danger; safe.
  2. Not intended to harm; inoffensive.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
      The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. […] Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?
  3. (obsolete) Unharmed.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=harmless&oldid=54345655"