harmless

[hahrm-lis] / ˈhɑrm lɪs /

ADJECTIVE

not injurious or dangerous

Synonyms

STRONGEST

gentle innocent innocuous inoffensive naive nontoxic painless powerless simple

WEAK

controllable disarmed guiltless hurtless innoxious inoperative kind manageable nonirritating paper-tiger reliable safe sanitary soft softie sound sure trustworthy unobjectionable unoffensive

Antonyms

STRONGEST

bad damaging experienced harmful strong

WEAK

destructive evil hurtful injurious sinful wicked

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"We know young people have been targeted online, and that means weapons are not harmless objects," she said.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

At the same time, I have come to regard my tech tweaks as a relatively harmless nonhuman gesture.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

Is it harmless fun—like guessing about the Nobel—or not?

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

In a different timeline, this would be just harmless fun — a quirk of the president’s personality, nothing more.

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

“I won’t kill a harmless snake,” he said.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck