pernicious
/pɚˈnɪʃəs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.87 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Insidiously villainous: intending to cause harm, especially in a subtle way.
Example Sentences
- "pernicious influence"
- "pernicious effects"
- "They warned of the pernicious effects of misinformation."
- "The weed has a pernicious influence on local crops."
- "Ang. Belieue me on mine Honor, My words expreſſe my purpoſe. Iſa. Ha? Little honor, to be much beleeu'd, And moſt pernitious purpoſe: Seeming, ſeeming. I will proclaime thee Angelo, looke for't."
- "[…]her health also having suffered by the change, she immediately, when told of Douglas's projected departure from India, felt the strongest desire to accompany him; and to which Colonel Melbourne the more readily consented, having with reluctance yielded to her request of quitting England, willing as he had been to sacrifice the enjoyment of her society rather than that she should submit to the disadvantages attendant upon a residence in a clime usually found so pernicious to the female constitution."
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French pernicios, from Latin perniciōsus (“destructive”), from perniciēs (“destruction”), from per (“through”) + nex (“slaughter, death”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *per-, -, pernicios, perniciōsus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pɚˈnɪʃəs/
- British English: /pəˈnɪʃəs/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more pernicious (comparative)
most pernicious (superlative)