as in benign
not causing or being capable of causing injury or hurt
a perfectly harmless little spider
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harmless
With 17 million watching, the audience, too, becomes possessed — including the president of the United States — providing unpredictable entertainment that morphs into evil when a supposedly harmless, fake exorcism turns all too real.
—
Michael Lee Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
Our beauty on political battlegrounds may seem harmless at best, tactical at worst.
—Akilah Sailers, Essence, 29 Oct. 2025
People thought coke was the new No-Doz, a harmless pick-me-up powder.
—Tom Freston, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2025
As kobolds go, Heinzelmann was more harmless than most, going about his business protecting the castle from giants and dwarves and keeping the staff updated on faerie gossip, as well as protecting the chambermaids from unwelcome attentions from visiting noblemen.
—Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmless
Michael Lee Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
Our beauty on political battlegrounds may seem harmless at best, tactical at worst.
—Akilah Sailers, Essence, 29 Oct. 2025
People thought coke was the new No-Doz, a harmless pick-me-up powder.
—Tom Freston, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2025
As kobolds go, Heinzelmann was more harmless than most, going about his business protecting the castle from giants and dwarves and keeping the staff updated on faerie gossip, as well as protecting the chambermaids from unwelcome attentions from visiting noblemen.
—Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harmless
Adjective
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Nestled in the tiny eastern Connecticut town, the century-old building that once housed Burdick’s General Store appears to be an ordinary, benign example of historic New England architecture.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
9 Jan. 2026
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While largely benign, motion sickness can be highly unpleasant — often causing nausea, vomiting, and dizziness, as well as sweating, headache, and irritability in some cases.—
Emily Kay Votruba,
EverydayHealth.com,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Having no cool aunt of my own and no elder sisters, just teenage babysitters and camp counselors (each with their own unique but tenuous grasp on anatomy and reproductive science), the book felt warm, inviting, and—perhaps most important to my terrified, bleeding, self—safe.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
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The two men exchange grateful texts later that evening, home safe and stumped about where to go next.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
9 Nov. 2025
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Given sun in just the proper dose, which is no more than three or four hours of direct daily exposure, its innocent look of youth may persist for a decade.—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The calls were fairly innocuous and typically would not raise eyebrows.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2026
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With a full roster in hand, the group will call employees directly, pretending to be a new hire with innocuous-seeming questions about platforms, cloud access, and other tech infrastructure.—
Amanda Gerut,
Fortune,
1 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Probably This made very nice videos, constitutionally inoffensive, pleasant, maybe because those are qualities with mass appeal and endorsement potential.—
Paul McAdory,
Them.,
9 Dec. 2025
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The problem is that to be so universally inoffensive, an affiliative joke usually ends up being overworn and anodyne.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The Panthers are pretty darn healthy this time of year compared to many teams, and that has undoubtedly helped.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Jan. 2026
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We’re trapped by recent history — the prior year’s numbers for healthy players are the top factor in every projection.—
Michael Salfino,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harmless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harmless. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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