nocent

[ noh-suhnt ]

adjective

, Rare.

1. harmful; injurious:

   nocent chemical waste and other toxins.

2. guilty; not innocent.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nocent¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin nocent-, stem of nocēns, present participle of nocēre “to harm, injure”; -ent

Example Sentences

On Tuesday, Milaine Nocent beamed as she showed a reporter a copy of an official document obtained after four days of standing in line to register her children as Dominicans.

From Reuters

God having failed to keep people in- nocent in a garden; having failed to govern them outside of a garden; having failed to reform them by water; having failed to produce any good result by a confusion of tongues; having failed to reform them with fire and brimstone, what did he then do?

From Project Gutenberg

Ista potest tolerare, potest nescire; sed illi, Quae sunt in vestro pectore, saxa nocent.

From Project Gutenberg

Donatus, Bishop of Fesulæ, who flourished about the middle of the ninth century, says, in a Latin poem on his native country: "Nulla venena nocent; nec Serpens serpit in herbâ; Nec conquesta canit garrula Rana lacu In qua Scotorum gentes habitare merentur; Inclyta gens hominum, milite, pace, fide."

From Project Gutenberg

But since this is taken for granted by casuists, I infer, If it be lawful that an innocent man die in case of necessity, that others may be preserved; then much more is it lawful, that the nocent, who are guilty of murdering the righteous all these ways above specified, and actually prosecuting their murdering designs by these methods, should rather be made to die, than the righteous be destroyed.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• adverse
• damaging
• destructive
• detrimental
• disadvantageous
• harmful
• insulting
• noxious
• pernicious
• poisonous
• prejudicial
• ruinous
• slanderous
• unhealthy