pernicious implies irreparable harm done through evil or insidious corrupting or undermining.
the claim that pornography has a pernicious effect on society
baneful implies injury through poisoning or destroying.
the baneful notion that discipline destroys creativity
noxious applies to what is both offensive and injurious to the health of a body or mind.
noxious chemical fumes
deleterious applies to what has an often unsuspected harmful effect.
a diet found to have deleterious effects
detrimental implies obvious harmfulness to something specified.
the detrimental effects of excessive drinking
Example Sentences
In developing countries, the imposition of boundaries around national parks and protected areas has been deleterious for both people and wildlife. Kristin B. Gunther, Association of American Geographers, 2002Most everyone now knows the action of pressing mouse keys is far more deleterious to the tender structures of the wrist and hand than typing is. Michael Finley, Albany (New York) Times-Union, 2 Sept. 1998This skewed allocation of resources away from those most in need, in turn, insures that many young people from low-income families will continue to be shut out of the economy, with obvious deleterious family and social consequences. Iris C. Rotberg, Education Week, 9 Mar. 1994For as James Keirans pointed out to me, ticks are the world's most notorious carriers of the agents of diseases that strike animals, wild and domestic. And they rank second only to mosquitoes in their deleterious effect on humans. Edwards Park, Smithsonian, January 1987 The chemical is deleterious to the environment. The drug has no deleterious effects on patients. See More
Recent Examples on the WebWhile tariffs may be a hypothetical future bargaining chip, the deleterious impact of such tariffs on a U.S. economy in crisis is already being felt across the board. Jason Oxman, Fortune, 19 July 2022 Death has a more deleterious impact on the environment than many realize. William Ralston, Wired, 26 July 2022 Such high quit rates have become so deleterious that companies are flagging the Great Resignation as a potential business risk in their annual reports. Phil Wahba, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2022 The Defense Department suggests that the lack of in-person engagement throughout the pandemic has had a deleterious effect on recruiting; that seems more plausible.WSJ, 4 Aug. 2022 But the rise of benzos has also had deleterious effects in a country that is still in the grips of a deadly opioid epidemic. Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 5 July 2022 The people who might most benefit from this book—those who have bought into the myth of paradise with an ocean view, deleterious impact be damned, and have the means to regularly experience a version of it—don’t want their illusions destroyed. Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 21 June 2022 There is a hot debate about the effects of using ethanol blends above 10%, but apparently 15% does not have a deleterious impact on engines—at least four stroke engines. Michael Lynch, Forbes, 6 June 2022 In the late 1950s, after experiencing antisemitism in his own life and seeing its deleterious impact on society, Schary went on to become national chairman of ADL. Jonathan Greenblatt, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2022 See More