noxious
Americanadjective
-
harmful or injurious to health or physical well-being.
noxious fumes.
- Synonyms:
- deleterious, detrimental, nocuous, unhealthy, unwholesome, hurtful
- Antonyms:
- harmless
-
morally harmful; corrupting; pernicious.
a noxious plan to spread dissension.
- Synonyms:
- corruptive
- Antonyms:
- harmless
adjective
-
poisonous or harmful
-
harmful to the mind or morals; corrupting
Other Word Forms
- noxiously adverb
- noxiousness noun
Etymology
Origin of noxious
1605–15; < Latin noxius harmful, hurtful, injurious, equivalent to nox ( a ) harm, hurt, injury (akin to nocēre to do harm, inflict injury; innocent ) + -ius -ious
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"So, they can cope with higher levels of noxious irritants produced by cold exposure."
From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2026
Both male and female therapists stress the importance of providing positive, pro-social and professional alternatives to the often noxious influence of the manosphere.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
The "Black Summer" bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke.
From Barron's • Jan. 8, 2026
Toilets crawling with rats, maggots and flies became so noxious that neighbors began defecating on the surrounding dirt roads.
From Salon • Dec. 16, 2025
By various recondite processes, he converted the urine first into a noxious paste and then into a translucent warty substance.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
