Synonyms for deleterious
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Harmful — harmful, often in a subtle or unexpected way
harmful, injurious, detrimental, destructive, pernicious, hurtful, noxious, prejudicial, bad, damaging, disadvantageous, noisome formal, ruinous, poisonous, deadly, malevolent, unwholesome, malicious, malefic, mischievous, nocuous, baneful
Other
deletery dated
Definitions
- adj. 1
Harmful, often in a subtle or unexpected way.
deleterious to someone's health
Related words
- Other spellings
- deletorious
Example sentences
- harmful There's no denying the harmful effects of smoking.
- destructive Excessive drinking is destructive of our health.
- detrimental It's not detrimental, but not beneficial either.
- injurious The argument that smoking is injurious has become accepted.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| deleterious | falling | |
| harmful | steady | |
| destructive | steady | |
| detrimental | steady | |
| injurious | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1
- 6 letters
- deadly2
- 7 letters
- harmful2, hurtful2, noxious2, ruinous3, malefic, noisome, baneful, nocuous
- 8 letters
- damaging3, deletery
- 9 letters
- malicious3, poisonous3, injurious4
- 10 letters
- pernicious3, malevolent4
- 11 letters
- destructive3, detrimental4, mischievous3, prejudicial4, unwholesome
- 15 letters
- disadvantageous5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (deadly2 = 2 syllables).