Skip to main content
cancerous

cancerous

3 6.0
Spreading and causing increasing harm inside a group or system
  • adjective
  • /ˈkænsərəs/
translation icon : canceroso
  • The American invasion of Iraq parallels the cancerous invasion of Jane's body, and her preoccupation with the war parallels her body's battle with cancer.
  • cancerous growth

The wide international community has let this kind of a cancerous extremism spread.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • "The slave trade is this pulsing, living, cancerous growth that is constantly changing its shape in response to the market," says Mr. Ayers, 63, who is a historian of the South and a former president of the university.

    Academic text (2016)
  • The wide international community has let this kind of a cancerous extremism spread.

  • The buildings are like a cancerous growth down there.

  • Like a cancerous growth, it gnaws at the younger generation, which by its very nature lacks experience and caution.

    Academic text (2010)
  • In a morally cancerous country, he would be re-elected anyway.

    Blog text (19)
  • Rep. Brad Sherman said the "cancerous" trade relationship with China is driven by enormous corporate power.

    Blog text (14)
  • So sinful members also make up a body of their own, a kind of cancerous growth of communal sin, a tumor to be excised by Christ the physician.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Now sludge rode the water like mutant plankton, and sewage collected along the banks like cancerous puff balls.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • A year before Khatami's victory, for example, Rezai warned an assembly of anti-riot force commanders in Tehran that "the cancerous tumor of liberalism is spreading in some corners of our country."

    Academic text (2008)
  • The cancerous influence of misinformation continues to grow in today's society.

Synonyms

malignant
vscancerous
  • Specialized
45 7.2

A dangerous disease or tumor that grows, spreads, and can threaten life

emphasizes slow spreading destructive influence rather than immediate fatal danger
virulent
vscancerous
  • Specialized
14 9.1

Very harmful and able to cause disease that spreads quickly

is slower and about growing influence rather than fast acute harm
tumorous
vscancerous
  • US
1 7.5

Having an abnormal growth of body cells or being overgrown and harmful

focuses on spreading dangerous influence rather than just a single excess mass
baneful
vscancerous
  • Formal
1 9.1

Causing great harm or serious damage

involves a spreading growing destructive influence rather than general harm
carcinomatous
vscancerous
  • Specialized
9.9

Relating to a cancer that begins in the thin cells covering organs and skin

is broader meaning uncontrolled harmful growth generally rather than a specific type
cancered
vscancerous
9.6

Damaged inside and slowly spreading to destroy nearby parts

highlights active spreading growth and increasing danger rather than static decay

Antonyms

138 3.4

Making something better or producing a good result

1 3.7

Making something steady and less likely to change suddenly

How Harmful

destructive
243 4.2
cancerous
3 6.0
harmful
161 2.6
damaging
80 3.1
harmless
231 1.0

Surface Forms

cancerous positive

Morphology

cancerous = cancer (semi-transparent) = cancer + ous

Formally derived from 'cancer' + '-ous', but this sense is a metaphorical extension (spreading/destructive), so the relation is not fully literal for learners.

Etymology

Cancerous comes from the same root as cancer and the star sign Cancer, which is a 'crab'. Because a crab seems to reach outward, cancerous is used for things that spread and cause harm, like corruption or bad feelings that eat away at something.