Synonyms for pernicious
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Harmful
harmful, baneful, destructive, insidious, evil, noxious, deadly, pestilential, fatal, hurtful, baleful, mischievous, injurious, vicious, detrimental, malevolent, ruinous, sinister, damaging, malign, poisonous, noisome formal
2. Deleterious — causing much harm in a subtle way
deleterious, venom dated
Definitions
- adj. 1
Causing much harm in a subtle way.
The weed has a pernicious influence on local crops.
- adj. 2
Causing death or injury; deadly.
Related words
- Word family
- perniciously perniciousness
Choose the right word
Pernicious is stronger than injurious; that which is injurious is capable of doing harm; that which is pernicious is likely to be destructive.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- harmful There's no denying the harmful effects of smoking.
- destructive Excessive drinking is destructive of our health.
- insidious It's a dangerous and insidious animal.
- baneful The world was tainted by the baneful influence of the demon king.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| pernicious | steady | |
| harmful | steady | |
| destructive | steady | |
| insidious | steady | |
| baneful | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1
- 4 letters
- evil2
- 5 letters
- fatal2, venom2
- 6 letters
- deadly2, malign2, attery
- 7 letters
- harmful2, vicious2, hurtful2, noxious2, ruinous3, baleful2, noisome, baneful
- 8 letters
- damaging3, sinister3
- 9 letters
- poisonous3, insidious4, injurious4
- 10 letters
- malevolent4
- 11 letters
- destructive3, detrimental4, mischievous3, deleterious5
- 12 letters
- pestilential
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (evil2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- pernicieux
- Español
- pernicioso
- Català
- perniciós