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deleterious

de·le·te·rious

UK/ˌdɛl.ɪˈtɪə̯.ɹi.əs/ US/ˌdɪl.ɪˈtɪə̯.ɹi.əs/ uncommon formal

adjective

1.

harmful to living things

  • “deleterious chemical additives”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

Adapted borrowing (1640s; 1582 as deletorious) of New Latin dēlētērius, dēlētōrius + -ous, from Ancient Greek δηλητήριος (dēlētḗrios, “noxious, deleterious”), from δηλητήρ (dēlētḗr, “a destroyer”), from δηλέομαι (dēléomai, “I hurt, damage, spoil, waste”). Not related to delete or deleble. Doublet of deletery.

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.