Standard Lemma guide

innocuous

adj · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈnɒkjuəs/
  • US: /ɪˈnɑkjuəs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N AA1 K Y UW0 AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Harmless; producing no ill effect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: innoxious, nonpoisonous, nontoxic, undamaging, unharmful, harmless

Antonyms: nocuous, noxious, harmful, poisonous, toxic, damaging, deleterious, detrimental, hurtful, inimical, injurious, mischievous, nocent, noisome, prejudicial, scathand, scathel, sullen, venom

2

adj

Meaning 2

Inoffensive; unprovocative; unexceptionable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: uncontroversial, anodyne

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

not injurious to physical or mental health

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: noxious

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

lacking intent or capacity to injure

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an innocent prank

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: innocent

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

not causing disapproval

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • it was an innocuous remark
  • confined himself to innocuous generalities
  • unobjectionable behavior

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unobjectionable

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin innocuus (“harmless”) (therefore, no gemination in + nocuous).

Across languages

Translations

63 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: məsum — harmless — see also harmless
  • Bulgarian: безвреден (bezvreden) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Catalan: innocu — harmless — see also harmless
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無害的 /无害的 (wúhài de) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Czech: neškodný — harmless — see also harmless
  • Czech: nezávadný — harmless — see also harmless
  • Danish: harmløs — harmless — see also harmless
  • Dutch: onschadelijk — harmless — see also harmless
  • Dutch: onschuldig — harmless — see also harmless
  • Faroese: óskaðiligur — harmless — see also harmless
  • Faroese: meinaleysur — harmless — see also harmless
  • Finnish: harmiton — harmless — see also harmless
  • Finnish: vaaraton — harmless — see also harmless
  • Finnish: viaton — harmless — see also harmless
  • French: inoffensif — harmless — see also harmless
  • German: harmlos — harmless — see also harmless
  • Greek: αβλαβής (avlavís) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Ancient Greek: ἀβλαβής (ablabḗs) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Hebrew: לא מזיק (l'mzik) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Hungarian: ártalmatlan — harmless — see also harmless
  • Italian: innocuo — harmless — see also harmless
  • Japanese: 無害な (mugai na) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Japanese: 無毒な (mudoku na) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Kazakh: залалсыз (zalalsyz) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Kazakh: зарарсыз (zararsyz) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Kazakh: зиянсыз (ziänsyz) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Kazakh: қиянатсыз (qiänatsyz) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Norwegian Bokmål: harmløs — harmless — see also harmless
  • Persian: بیضرر (bi-zarar) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Polish: niegroźny — harmless — see also harmless
  • Polish: bezpieczny — harmless — see also harmless
  • Portuguese: inócuo — harmless — see also harmless
  • Romanian: inofensiv — harmless — see also harmless
  • Romanian: nevătămător — harmless — see also harmless
  • Russian: безвре́дный (bezvrédnyj) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Russian: безоби́дный (bezobídnyj) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Spanish: inocuo — harmless — see also harmless
  • Spanish: innocuo — harmless — see also harmless
  • Swedish: ofarlig — harmless — see also harmless
  • Swedish: oskadlig — harmless — see also harmless
  • Swedish: oskyldig — harmless — see also harmless
  • Turkish: zararsız — harmless — see also harmless
  • Ottoman Turkish: ضررسز (zararsız) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Ottoman Turkish: زیانسز (ziyansız) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Ukrainian: нешкідли́вий (neškidlývyj) — harmless — see also harmless
  • Bulgarian: безобиден (bezobiden) — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無傷大雅的 /无伤大雅的 (wúshāngdàyǎ de) — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Czech: nevinný — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Dutch: onschuldig — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Dutch: onschadelijk — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Dutch: braaf — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Finnish: harmiton — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Finnish: viaton — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • French: inoffensif — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • German: unverfänglich — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • German: konform — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • German: gewöhnlich — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Greek: αβλαβής (avlavís) — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Hungarian: ártalmatlan — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Italian: innocuo — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Japanese: 無難な (bunan na) — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Japanese: 当たり障りのない (atarisawari no nai) — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent
  • Ukrainian: необра́зливий (neobrázlyvyj) — inoffensive — see also inoffensive, innocent