noxious
noxious Lexical Profile
noxious Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant to living beings, especially regarding physical health or the environment.
"Workers wore protective respirators to avoid inhaling the noxious fumes escaping from the chemical plant."
Corrupting, destructive, or harmful to the mind, morals, or social well-being.
"The historian argued that the pamphlet spread noxious ideologies that undermined public trust in democratic institutions."
Word Nuance & Usage
Often confused with 'obnoxious'; while both share the same Latin root meaning 'harm', 'noxious' refers to substances that are physically toxic or injurious to health (such as noxious fumes), whereas 'obnoxious' describes behavior or people that are extremely unpleasant or annoying.
• Rhymes for noxious
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 16th century from Latin noxius ('harmful, injurious'), derived from noxa ('harm, damage, injury'), which is related to the verb nocēre ('to hurt or harm') and shares a root with 'innocent' and 'innocuous'.