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as in poisonous
bad for the well-being of the body mixing bleach and ammonia can cause noxious fumes that can seriously harm you

Synonyms & Similar Words

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How is the word noxious different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of noxious are baneful, deleterious, detrimental, and pernicious. While all these words mean "exceedingly harmful," noxious applies to what is both offensive and injurious to the health of a body or mind.

noxious chemical fumes

When is it sensible to use baneful instead of noxious?

The words baneful and noxious can be used in similar contexts, but baneful implies injury through poisoning or destroying.

the baneful notion that discipline destroys creativity

When would deleterious be a good substitute for noxious?

In some situations, the words deleterious and noxious are roughly equivalent. However, deleterious applies to what has an often unsuspected harmful effect.

a diet found to have deleterious effects

When could detrimental be used to replace noxious?

While the synonyms detrimental and noxious are close in meaning, detrimental implies obvious harmfulness to something specified.

the detrimental effects of excessive drinking

When might pernicious be a better fit than noxious?

The meanings of pernicious and noxious largely overlap; however, pernicious implies irreparable harm done through evil or insidious corrupting or undermining.

the claim that pornography has a pernicious effect on society

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of noxious This is a man who has adopted as a career trajectory embracing some of the most noxious lies imaginable, those that cast doubt on the efficacy and safety of perhaps our greatest-ever medical achievement, vaccinations. New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 6 May 2025 Diehl goes to great lengths to embody a figure noxious to the eyes and ears — in the most subtle, skin-crawling ways — with the crouched body language of a man resultant to be seen. Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 May 2025 The Weeknd discography plays like one big party with noxious vibes, thrown by a hedonist less interested in a good time than numbing the torment of an existence comprising coke-and-sizzurp binges, emotionless supermodel threeways, and morning-afters of bleak reflection. Charles Bramesco, IndieWire, 15 May 2025 The intent, the critics have said, is in fact to stifle findings about the noxious content that is increasingly polluting social media and political discourse. Steven Lee Myers, New York Times, 15 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for noxious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for noxious
Adjective
  • Looking at her computer's search history, investigators found that Patterson looked up a website listing sightings of the poisonous mushroom.
    Britt Clennett, ABC News, 30 May 2025
  • The poisonous kernels are responsible for a significant number of suicides and homicides, particularly in rural areas of South Asia.
    Nina Foster, JSTOR Daily, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • Some of these harmful ideologies might be downstream of these larger root causes.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 30 May 2025
  • The jury is still out on whether emulsifiers are harmful to the gut.
    Fran Kritz, Verywell Health, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • Conrad wraps the conversation by being incredibly disgusting about Bella’s nether regions.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 1 June 2025
  • For the next 200 years, snails only appeared in Parisian cookbooks alongside an apology for including such a disgusting ingredient.
    Garritt C. Van Dyk, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 May 2025
Adjective
  • The explosion of money in the game in the past few years has made things only more toxic.
    Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 29 May 2025
  • As explained by Hill's Pet Nutrition, spicy food can be toxic for dogs and can lead to excessive thirst or even vomiting.
    Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025
Adjective
  • At times, the Algerian even operated as a wide forward as O’Neil grappled with a forward injury crisis and identified Ait-Nouri as his most dangerous attacking threat.
    Steve Madeley, New York Times, 6 June 2025
  • This security problem is dangerous in many sectors of business, including financial, travel, and e-commerce.
    Gary Drenik, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025
Adjective
  • Tech wealth here looks even less appealing than that of the Roy family (the expensively beige décor is even uglier).
    Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 4 June 2025
  • During the negotiation of USMCA in 2018, the current trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada that Trump managed during his first term, conversations between the President and GM occasionally turned ugly.
    Jackie Charniga, USA Today, 3 June 2025
Adjective
  • The unhealthful effects of autocracy remain robust even when accounting for economic differences and when excluding Venezuela and its collapsing health-care system.
    Thomas J. Bollyky, Foreign Affairs, 30 Jan. 2020
  • However, communities in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains were still experiencing unhealthful air quality, according to the air district.
    Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2024
Adjective
  • The consequences are both deeply personal and widely systemic: Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed, experience adverse drug reactions, and face delays in care.
    Geri Stengel, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025
  • Mifepristone is currently part of that program, though a wealth of research has shown that less than 0.5% of women who take it have serious adverse reactions.
    Aria Bendix, NBC news, 5 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Noxious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/noxious. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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