harmless

adj

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”).

1. Incapable of causing harm or danger; safe.

   “Near-synonyms: benign, innocuous, innocent, undamaging, nonthreatening, unthreatening”

   “This snake looks nearly the same as its poisonous cousin but is harmless.”

2. Not intended to harm; inoffensive.

   “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?”

3. Unharmed.