Harmless Meaning
/ˈhɑːmləs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjIncapable of causing harm or danger; safe.
adjNot intended to harm; inoffensive.
Sentence Examples
Liberty consists of being able to make everything as harmless as possible.
There's no need to be frightened of the dog; he is quite harmless.
The sound was annoying but harmless to the human body.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The small spider was ____ and did not bite anyone.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Don't be afraid of the little spider it is completely ____ and will not bite you.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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?"
— 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The small spider was ____ and did not bite anyone.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Don't be afraid of the little spider it is completely ____ and will not bite you.