Pernicious

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪʃəs

Origin

From Middle English, from Old French pernicios, from Latin perniciosus ("destructive"), from pernicies ("destruction"), from per ("through") + nex ("slaughter, death")

Full definition of pernicious

Adjective

1. Causing much harm in a subtle way.
• 1911, Emma Goldman, ,Puritanism no longer employs the thumbscrew and lash; but it still has a most pernicious hold on the minds and feelings of the American people.
2. Causing death or injury; deadly.

Synonyms

• attery

Related terms

• pernicious anaemia

Derived terms

• perniciousness
• perniciously

Anagrams

• superionic