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pernicious definition

per·ni·cious (pər nis̸h′əs)

adjective

  1. causing great injury, destruction, or ruin; fatal; deadly
  2. Rare wicked; evil

Etymology: Fr pernicieux < L perniciosus < pernicies, destruction < pernecare, to kill < per, thoroughly + necare, to kill: see necro-

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

medical pernicious definition - medical

pernicious Synonyms

pernicious

modif.

harmful, deleterious, detrimental, noxious, baneful, damaging, prejudicial, ruinous, destructive, insidious, hurtful, malignant, sinister, virulent, deadly, fatal, lethal, poisonous, venomous, unwholesome; see also deadly 1, harmful, poisonous.

pernicious applies to that which does great harm by insidiously undermining or weakening pernicious anemia, a pernicious dogma; baneful implies a harming by or as if by poisoning a baneful superstition; noxious refers to something that is injurious to physical or mental health noxious fumes; deleterious implies slower, less irreparable injury to the health the deleterious effects of an unbalanced diet; detrimental implies a causing of damage, loss, or disadvantage to something specified the speech was detrimental to our cause


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

pernicious Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • anemia: Some people have a medical problem called pernicious anemia in which vitamin B 12 is not absorbed from the intestine.

Modifying Another Word

  • particularly: There's one particularly pernicious piece of red tape that Kent County Council supports - by maintaining its own version of Section 28.
pernicious usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

pernicious quotes

I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.

-Swift,Jonathan

pernicious quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"pernicious." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/pernicious>

APA Style

pernicious. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/pernicious

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