How do you pronounce harmless?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhɑɹmləs/.

Where does harmless come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

harmless

/ˈhɑɹmləs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.79 in modern English

Syllables: harm-less
IPA: /ˈhɑɹmləs/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Incapable of causing harm or danger; safe.

adj

Not intended to harm; inoffensive.

adj

Unharmed.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"Near-synonyms: benign, innocuous, innocent, undamaging, nonthreatening, unthreatening"
"This snake looks nearly the same as its poisonous cousin but is harmless."
"His humor can be annoying but is harmless."
"The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.[…]Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?"

Etymology

From Middle English harmles, from Old English *hearmlēas, from Proto-Germanic *harmalausaz (“without harm; harmless”), equivalent to harm + -less. Cognate with German harmlos (“harmless”), Danish harmløs (“harlmess”), Swedish harmlös (“harmless”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: harmles, *hearmlēas, *harmalausaz
Suffix: harm

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈhɑɹmləs/
British English: /ˈhɑːmləs/

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

more harmless (comparative) most harmless (superlative)

Derived Forms

harmlessly harmlessness

Phrases

hold harmless save harmless

Synonyms

unharmful nonharmful benign innocuous innocent undamaging nonthreatening unthreatening unscathed

Antonyms

harmful deleterious damaging threatening