pernicious
Use Pernicious in a sentence
əs adjective
1.
causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful: pernicious teachings; a pernicious lie.
2.
deadly; fatal: a pernicious disease.
3.
Obsolete. evil; wicked.
Origin:
1515–25; < Latin perniciōsus ruinous, equivalent to pernici(ēs) ruin (per- per- + -nici-, combining form of nex death, murder (stem nec-) + -iēs noun suffix) + -ōsus -ous
1515–25; < Latin perniciōsus ruinous, equivalent to pernici(ēs) ruin (per- per- + -nici-, combining form of nex death, murder (stem nec-) + -iēs noun suffix) + -ōsus -ous
Related forms
per·ni·cious·ly, adverb
per·ni·cious·ness, noun
un·per·ni·cious, adjective
un·per·ni·cious·ly, adverb
Synonyms
1. harmful, detrimental, deleterious, destructive, damaging, baneful, noxious, malicious. 2. lethal.
1. harmful, detrimental, deleterious, destructive, damaging, baneful, noxious, malicious. 2. lethal.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To pernicious
00:10
Pernicious
is a GRE word you need to know.
So is rue. Does it mean:
| imaginative; unpredictable |
| to feel sorrow over or regret bitterly; to wish that something had never taken place |
Collins
World English Dictionary
pernicious (pəˈnɪʃəs) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | wicked or malicious: pernicious lies |
| 2. | causing grave harm; deadly |
| [C16: from Latin perniciōsus, from perniciēs ruin, from | |
| per'niciously | |
| —adv | |
| per'niciousness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
pernicious
1521, from M.Fr. pernicios (13c., Fr. pernicieux), from L. perniciosus "destructive," from pernicies "destruction, death, ruin," from per- "completely" + necis "violent death, murder," related to necare "to kill," nocere "to hurt, injure, harm," noxa "harm, injury" (see noxious).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
pernicious per·ni·cious (pər-nĭsh'əs)
adj.
Tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Neither is particularly useful to him, although the latter is the more pernicious.
The pernicious influence of oil, along with other rents such as foreign aid, is easier to measure.
In the case of higher education, the form this subsidy took was particularly pernicious: student loans.
Austin had contracted in the world a pernicious habit of swearing.
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