Skip to main content
hazardousness

hazardousness

7.4
A situation likely to cause harm or injury
  • noun
  • /ˈhæzərdəsnəs/
translation icon : peligrosidad
  • The hazardousness of toxic waste makes it crucial for companies to follow safety regulations.

Examples

  • The hazardousness of the job increased as the storm approached, urging employees to evacuate immediately.

  • Construction of roads and houses contributes to the hazardousness of slides, as along the roadcut and fill slopes in the Caguas-Cayey region (Molinelli 1984).

    Academic text (1993)
  • Research indicates that the hazardousness of the chemicals used can pose significant risks to workers.

Synonyms

danger
vshazardousness
1.0

A chance that people or things will be harmed

describes the general state of being risky or involving potential harm
dangerousness
vshazardousness
2 6.1

The chance that something will harm people or property

is broader, focusing on both harm likelihood and the presence of risk
harmfulness
vshazardousness
1 4.8

How much something can hurt people, animals, or things

is about potential danger or involvement of risk, not actual damage
riskiness
vshazardousness
1 4.5

How likely something is to cause harm or loss

is about the quality of being dangerous rather than only probability
perilousness
vshazardousness
1 8.9

The state of being very dangerous and likely to cause harm

is milder, covering general risk rather than extreme severity
direness
vshazardousness
1 8.3

A very serious and urgent situation that can cause great harm

is broader, including ordinary risk without urgent severity
treacherousness
vshazardousness
8.4

Being dangerous because it has hidden risks or cannot be trusted

is more general, covering both hidden and obvious risk

Antonyms

1.0

A place or condition that protects you from danger

How Dangerous

peril
112 5.7
danger
1.0
hazardousness
7.4
risk
1.9
safety
1.0

Surface Forms

hazardousness singular

Morphology

hazardousness = hazardous (transparent) = hazard + ous + ness

Formed by adding the nominalizing suffix '-ness' to 'hazardous', which itself is transparently 'hazard' + '-ous'; the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

Hazardousness comes from hazard, a word that began as the name for a 'die' used in games and then stood for 'chance' or 'risk'. The endings -ous ('full of') and -ness ('the quality of') turn it into the 'quality of being dangerous', so hazardousness means being full of risk.