noxious

nox·ious
N1O1X8I1O1U1S1
UK/ˈnɒkʃəs/US/ˈnɑkʃəs/

adjective

Harmful; injurious.

“a noxious smell”

Opposite
Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectivenoxious (comparative more noxious, superlative most noxious)

comparative more noxious · superlative most noxious · alternative obsolete noctious

  1. Harmful; injurious.

    In the living state, the body is observed to […] reject what is noxious; [...]

    1822, John Barclay, chapter I, in An Inquiry Into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, Concerning Life and Organization, Edinburgh; London: Bell & Bradfute; Waugh & Innes; G. & W. B. Whittaker, section I, page 1
    1 more example

    [...] many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair. If that repair does not come in time, the result is noxious and potentially hazardous.

    2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891, archived from the original on 09 Jan 2025
  2. Morally corrupting.
    1 more example

    Immediately upon joining, Ms. Yaccarino had her work cut out for her. Mr. Musk quickly made changes that tore up much of the good will Twitter had with users, employees and advertisers, including changing speech policies that allowed noxious content to circulate on the platform. Many advertisers left.

    2025 July 9, Mike Isaac, Kate Conger, “X CEO Linda Yaccarino Says She Is Leaving Elon Musk’s Platform”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Jul 2025
  3. Very unpleasant.

    a noxious smell

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveinjurious to physical or mental health

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinnoxius“hurtful, injurious”
  2. Englishnoxious

From Latin noxius (“hurtful, injurious”), from noxa (“hurt, injury”), from nocere (“to hurt, injure”); see nocent.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Basque kaltegarri
  • kaltegarriharmful
Bulgarian вреден, нездравословен
  • вреден (vreden)harmful
  • нездравословен (nezdravosloven)harmful
Catalan nociu
  • nociuharmful
Chinese Mandarin 有害的
  • 有害的 (yǒuhài de)harmful
Czech škodlivý, nezdravý
  • škodlivýharmful
  • nezdravýharmful
Esperanto venefna
  • venefnaharmful
Estonian kahjur-
  • kahjur-harmful
Finnish vahingollinen, haitallinen
  • vahingollinenharmful
  • haitallinenharmful
  • myrkyllinenharmful
French nocif
  • nocifharmful
German Schad-, schädlich
  • Schad-harmful
  • schädlichharmful
Hungarian kártékony, ártalmas
  • kártékonyharmful
  • ártalmasharmful
Italian insalubre, nocivo
  • insalubreharmful
  • nocivoharmful
  • malsanoharmful
Japanese 有毒な
  • 有毒な (yūdokuna)harmful
Korean 유해한
  • 유해한 (yuhaehan)harmful
Latin noxius
  • noxiusharmful
Latvian kaitīgs
  • kaitīgsharmful
Māori orotā
  • orotāharmful
Polish szkodliwy, niezdrowy
  • szkodliwyharmful
  • niezdrowyharmful
Portuguese nocivo, daninho
  • nocivoharmful
  • daninhoharmful
Romanian nociv, vătămător
  • nocivharmful
  • vătămătorharmful
  • nesănătosharmful
Russian ядови́тый, вре́дный
  • ядови́тый (jadovítyj)harmful
  • вре́дный (vrédnyj)harmful
Spanish nocivo, nocible
  • nocivoharmful
  • nocibleharmful
  • nocenteharmful
Turkish zararlı
  • zararlıharmful
Vietnamese độc hại
  • độc hạiharmful
Cite this entry
APA

noxious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noxious

MLA

“noxious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noxious. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “noxious,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noxious.

Source: noxious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.