pernicious

English

Etymology 1

FromMiddle English,fromOld Frenchpernicios,fromLatinperniciōsus(“destructive”),fromperniciēs(“destruction”),fromper(“through”)+nex(“slaughter, death”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/pəˈnɪʃəs/
• (General American)IPA^(key):/pɚˈnɪʃəs/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɪʃəs

Adjective

pernicious(comparativemorepernicious,superlativemostpernicious)

1. Causing muchharmin asubtleway.

   Synonyms:deleterious,(obsolete)venom

   • c.1603–1604(date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act II, scene iv],page70,column 1:

     Ang.Belieue me on mine Honor,
     My words expreſſe my purpoſe.
     Iſa.Ha? Little honor, to be much beleeu'd,
     And moſtpernitiouspurpoſe: Seeming, ſeeming.
     I will proclaime theeAngelo,looke for't.

   • 1838,[Letitia Elizabeth] Landon(indicated as editor), chapter XVIII, inDuty and Inclination:[…],volume III, London:Henry Colburn,[…],→OCLC,page231:

     […]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 soperniciousto the female constitution.

   • 1911,Emma Goldman,“The Hypocrisy of Puritanism”,inAnarchism and Other Essays:

     Puritanism no longer employs the thumbscrew and lash; but it still has a mostpernicioushold on the minds and feelings of the American people.

   • 2017March 22, Jacob Kastrenakes, “Medium launches memberships for $5 per month”, inThe Verge‎^[1]:

     In January, the company laid off a third of its staff and renounced ads as aperniciousinfluence on the world, without mentioning that Google and Facebook are so good at ads there’s hardly room for anyone else to compete.

   • 2019July 9, Toni Bentley, “What Do the Sex Lives of ‘Three Women’ Tell Us About Female Desire?”, inNew York Times‎^[2]:

     A man has always been a woman’s best excuse to avoid her destiny; that a man is her destiny is one of patriarchy’s mostpernicioustenets. What a scam.

2. Causingdeathorinjury;deadly.

   Synonym:attery

3. (of a person)Insidiouslyvillainous:intending to cause harm, especially in a subtle way.

Derived terms

• pernicious anemia
• pernicious scale
• perniciousness
• perniciously

Translations

causing much harm

• Bulgarian:па́губен(bg)(páguben)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Hữu hại(zh)(yǒuhài)

• Dutch:schadelijk(nl),destructief(nl),verderfelijk(nl)
• Finnish:turmiollinen(fi),haitallinen(fi),tuhoisa(fi)
• French:nocif(fr),malsain(fr),pernicieux(fr)
• Georgian:მავნე(mavne),მავნებელი(mavnebeli),საზიანო(saziano),მაწყინარი(mac̣q̇inari)
• German:schädlich(de),bösartig(de),verderblich(de),(medicine)perniziös(de)
• Greek:ολέθριος(el)m(oléthrios)
• Hungarian:ártalmas(hu)
• Italian:pernicioso(it)
• Japanese:Hữu hạiな(ゆうがいな, yūkai na)
• Latin:perniciosus
• Macedonian:погубенm(poguben)
• Polish:groźny(pl)m,szkodliwy(pl),zgubny(pl)m
• Portuguese:pernicioso(pt)
• Romanian:pernicios(ro),vătămător(ro),dăunător(ro)
• Russian:тлетво́рный(ru)(tletvórnyj),па́губный(ru)(págubnyj),зловредный(ru)m(zlovrednyj)
• Scottish Gaelic:sgriosail
• Serbo-Croatian:štetan(sh)
• Spanish:pernicioso(es)
• Swedish:fördärvlig(sv)
• Turkish:habis(tr),muzır(tr),(medicine)pernisiyöz,zararlı(tr)
• Ukrainian:згубнийm(zhubnyj),шкідливийm(škidlyvyj)

causing death or injury

• Bulgarian:ги́белен(bg)(gíbelen),па́губен(bg)(páguben)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Trí mệnh(zh)(zhìmìng)

• Dutch:dodelijk(nl),schadelijk(nl)
• Finnish:tappava(fi)
• French:nocif(fr),délétère(fr),nuisible(fr),dangereux(fr)
• German:(medicine)perniziös(de),tödlich(de)
• Greek:ολέθριος(el)m(oléthrios),θανατηφόρος(el)m(thanatifóros)
• Hungarian:veszedelmes(hu)
• Japanese:Trí mệnh đíchな(ちめいてきな, chimeiteki na)
• Macedonian:погубенm(poguben)
• Maori:whakawhara,whakamōrearea
• Polish:zgubny(pl)
• Portuguese:mórbido(pt)
• Romanian:pernicios(ro),vătămător(ro),dăunător(ro)
• Russian:вре́дный(ru)(vrédnyj),ги́бельный(ru)(gíbelʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:poguban(sh)
• Spanish:pernicioso(es)
• Turkish:ölümcül(tr),(medicine)pernisiyöz

Etymology 2

Analyzable aspernīx( "swift" ) +-ious.

Adjective

pernicious(comparativemorepernicious,superlativemostpernicious)

1. (obsolete)swift;celeritous.

Related terms

• pernicity

Anagrams

• superionic