pernicious
23
8.2
- adjective
- /pərˈnɪʃəs/
- Formal
:
pernicioso
- The pernicious effects of pollution can slowly damage our health over time.
- pernicious effects
- pernicious influence
- pernicious myth
And that's one of the most pernicious forms of evil of our time.
- And that's one of the most pernicious forms of evil of our time.
- We were talking earlier with Alex and Doctor Bush about the pernicious aspects of marketing.
- And that's just pernicious, like, untruth.
- And he actually calls this a most pernicious disease of the soul, namely anger.
- I'm AII hate gatekeeping wherever I find it, but it is most pernicious within our own heads.
- And so that makes female antisocial behavior unbelievably pernicious and difficult to regulate.
- But it's a pernicious, pernicious disease.
- The use of the term genocide is unbelievably pernicious.
- Now, if you tell them I'm caring for you for, for, for a pernicious motive, not so good.
- But then there is the far more pernicious and awful loss of trust, a different kind of loss of trust.
- Or for example, you know, part of what makes misinformation so pernicious is consensus reality is like a channel.
- But what what charter schools have done is they've challenged the pernicious bigotry that all children can't learn.
Examples
-
The story in the paper affected her in a deep and pernicious way.
Fiction book (1990) -
Colombia's drug economy, with its pernicious effects, is as pervasive as ever.
Academic text (1999) -
His influence on the children is pernicious, or so they say.
Fiction book (2001) -
Now, each one of you has contributed in some way to the pernicious spread of golf.
-
And one of the real pernicious challenges of lead is that it is invisible to the naked eye.
-
And that's one of the most pernicious forms of evil of our time.
-
This is particularly pernicious for African producers of food who find that they face a big tariff barrier when trying to export to Europe.
-
Lead is one of the most pervasive and pernicious toxic substances being released into the environment.
Academic text (1990) -
Perhaps one of the most pernicious myths revolves around the purpose of RTI.
Academic text (2013) -
Social media can have a pernicious influence on young people's self-esteem and wellbeing.
Synonyms
161
2.6
Causing damage to people, animals or things
49
6.3
Causing harm to people, things, or the environment
49
8.4
Spreading slowly and quietly while causing harm
9
8.5
Harmful to people, animals, or plants
4
7.6
A harmful, evil force that causes people or things to suffer
4
6.3
Harmful to health or to how someone behaves
1
8.8
Very harmful and causing great trouble or damage
1
9.1
Causing great harm or serious damage
Antonyms
Compounds
- Specialized
1
5.7
A long-lasting blood problem where the body cannot make enough red blood cells because it cannot take in vitamin B12
How Harmful
1
4.3
243
4.2
- Formal
23
8.2
- Formal
9
8.5
8
7.0
161
2.6
40
4.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
pernicious = pernici + ous
The suffix '-ous' is productive, but the root 'pernici' is not a recognizable English base and learners cannot derive the meaning from the parts.
Etymology
Pernicious comes from the Latin pernicies, meaning 'destruction', built from per- 'completely' and necare 'to kill'. So something pernicious causes great harm, often slowly or in a hidden way.