deleterious
Adjective Satellite
- harmful to living things
- "deleterious chemical additives"
Adj
- Harmful, often in a subtle or unexpected way.
- Having lower fitness.
Examples
- A deleterious mutation
- deleterious effects
- deleterious to someone's health
Origin / Etymology
Borrowed (1640s, 1582 as deletorious) from Medieval Latin deleterius, deletorius, from Ancient Greek δηλητήριος (dēlētḗrios, “noxious, deleterious”), from δηλητήρ (dēlētḗr, “a destroyer”), from δηλέομαι (dēléomai, “I hurt, damage, spoil, waste”). Not related to delete.
Synonyms
hurtful, injurious, damaging, deleterious, destructive, detrimental, harmful, inimical, mischievous, nocent, nocuous, noisome, noxious, pernicious, prejudicial, scathand, scathel, sullen, venom
Scrabble Score: 12
deleterious: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Worddeleterious: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
deleterious: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary