per·ni·cious

[per-nish-uhs]
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

per·ni·cious·ly, adverb
per·ni·cious·ness, noun
un·per·ni·cious, adjective
un·per·ni·cious·ly, adverb


1. harmful, detrimental, deleterious, destructive, damaging, baneful, noxious, malicious. 2. lethal.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
pernicious (pəˈnɪʃəs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  wicked or malicious: pernicious lies
2.  causing grave harm; deadly
 
[C16: from Latin perniciōsus, from perniciēs ruin, from per- (intensive) + nex death]
 
per'niciously
 
adv
 
per'niciousness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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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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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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