deleterious
The factory's waste contained deleterious chemicals that seeped into the soil.
Adjective 1. Harmful to health or well-being; causing damage or injury: Describes something that has a damaging or injurious effect on living organisms, physical structures, or systems. 2. Having a harmful and often subtle or long-term negative effect: Often implies harm that is not immediately obvious but accumulates over time or undermines a system's integrity.
The word "deleterious" is a formal adjective, most commonly used in academic, scientific, medical, legal, and technical writing. It describes agents, influences, or effects that cause harm. It is typically followed by the preposition "to" when specifying the object of the harm.
- The study confirmed the deleterious effects of long-term sleep deprivation on cognitive function.
- Environmentalists warned about the deleterious impact of the pollutant on the river's ecosystem.
- Smoking has deleterious consequences for both the smoker and those exposed to secondhand smoke.
- The lawyer argued that the policy had a deleterious effect on the community's welfare.
- "Deleterious mutation": In genetics, a mutation that reduces an organism's fitness or viability.
- Natural selection tends to eliminate deleterious mutations from a population.
- "Deleterious agent": A formal term for a substance or force that causes harm.
- The chemical was classified as a deleterious agent requiring special handling.
- Deleteriously (adverb): In a harmful manner.
- The medication can affect the liver deleteriously if taken in high doses.
- Deleteriousness (noun): The quality or state of being harmful. (This form is very rare in usage.)
- Detrimental: Tending to cause harm (slightly less formal than deleterious).
- Injurious: Causing or likely to cause damage or injury.
- Pernicious: Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
- Noxious: Harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant.
- Damaging: Causing physical or other damage.
- Beneficial: Producing good or helpful results.
- Salutary: Beneficial, especially in promoting health or moral well-being.
- Innocuous: Not harmful or offensive.
- Advantageous: Involving or creating favorable circumstances.
While "deleterious" and "harmful" are synonyms, "deleterious" is more specific and formal. It often implies a systematic, undermining, or corrupting kind of harm, particularly in biological, ecological, or social contexts. It is less commonly used for simple, immediate physical injuries (e.g., "a deleterious cut" would sound unnatural).
The factory's waste contained deleterious chemicals that seeped into the soil.
- harmful to living things
- deleterious chemical additives