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Noxious - 6 dictionary results

nox⋅ious

  [nok-shuhs]
Use Noxious in a Sentence
–adjective
1. harmful or injurious to health or physical well-being: noxious fumes.
2. morally harmful; corrupting; pernicious: a noxious plan to spread dissension.
Origin:
1605–15; < L noxius harmful, hurtful, injurious, equiv. to nox(a) harm, hurt, injury (akin to nocēre to do harm, inflict injury; see innocent ) + -ius -ious

Related forms:
nox⋅ious⋅ly, adverb
nox⋅ious⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. hurtful, unwholesome, unhealthy, nocuous, detrimental, deleterious. 2. corruptive.

Antonyms:
1, 2. harmless.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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nox·ious   (nŏk'shəs)   
adj.  
  1. Harmful to living things; injurious to health: noxious chemical wastes.
  2. Harmful to the mind or morals; corrupting: noxious ideas.

[Middle English noxius, from Latin, from noxa, damage; see nek-1 in Indo-European roots.]
nox'ious·ly adv., nox'ious·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Noxious

Nox"ious\, a. [L. noxius, fr. noxa harm; akin to nocere to harm, hurt. Cf. Nuisance, Necromancy.]

1. Hurtful; harmful; baneful; pernicious; injurious; destructive; unwholesome; insalubrious; as, noxious air, food, or climate; pernicious; corrupting to morals; as, noxious practices or examples.

Too frequent an appearance in places of public resort is noxious to spiritual promotions. --Swift.

2. Guilty; criminal. [R.]

Those who are noxious in the eye of the law. --Abp. Bramhall.

Syn: Noisome; hurtful; harmful; injurious; destructive; pernicious; mischievous; corrupting; baneful; unwholesome; insalubrious. See Noisome. -- Nox"ious*ly, adv. -- Nox"ious*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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noxious 
1612, from L. noxius "hurtful, injurious," from noxa "injury, hurt, damage entailing liability" (related to nocere "to hurt," and to nex "slaughter"), from PIE *nek-ro-, causative form of root *nek- "death" (cf. Skt. nasyati "disappears, perishes," Avestan nasyeiti, Gk. nekus "dead body, corpse," O.Ir. ec, Bret. ankou "death."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: nox·ious
Pronunciation: 'näk-sh&s
Function: adjective
: physically harmful or destructive to living beings <noxiouswastes that turn our streams into sewers>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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noxious nox·ious (nŏk'shəs)
adj.
Harmful to living things; injurious to health.

nox'ious·ness n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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