How to Use harmless in a Sentence

harmless

adjective
Definition of harmlessnext
Synonyms for harmlessnext
  • It was just a harmless joke.
  • We're just having a bit of harmless fun.
  • His ideas seem harmless enough.
  • Colon polyps are mostly a harmless clump of cells that form the lining of the colon.
    — Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 5 Nov. 2021
  • Most are harmless, but some can put your health at risk.
    — Katie Camero, SELF, 25 July 2024
  • Shane is rightly off-put by the man, who seems harmless.
    — Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 5 Mar. 2023
  • Cicadas are, for the most part, harmless to plants, pets and humans.
    — Kevin Dayhoff, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 14 Aug. 2021
  • Then a pair of harmless singles in the fourth and fifth were the only knocks recorded against him all day.
    — Journal Sentinel, 20 July 2023
  • Most of those are harmless, but there are a few types that swimmers should be on the lookout for.
    — Adam Benson The Sun News (myrtle Beach, al, 9 July 2023
  • At the time, the NIH said the compound was thought to be harmless to humans, animals and plants.
    — Justin Gamble, CNN, 15 Oct. 2023
  • As for all the papers in the first picture, most of them seem pretty harmless.
    — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 20 Oct. 2021
  • These two certainly seem harmless at the start of The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 17 Sep. 2021
  • Our list of epic ideas includes a range of stunts from harmless and goofy to downright saucy.
    — Alesandra Dubin, Good Housekeeping, 21 Feb. 2023
  • Though most forms of E. coli are harmless, some strains can make humans sick.
    — Korin Miller, Health, 1 Aug. 2024
  • Your life might be on the line, whereas our bullies were harmless.
    — Time, 13 Jan. 2023
  • This is not the first time people have been killed by what were supposed to be harmless guns on a movie set.
    — Melissa Mahtani, CNN, 22 Oct. 2021
  • The new vaccine, called Arexvy, contains a harmless version of a protein found on the outside of the virus.
    — Carolyn Y. Johnson, Anchorage Daily News, 4 May 2023
  • Your task is to decide what's worth fighting over and what's harmless enough to let go.
    — Sophie Saint Thomas, Allure, 18 Aug. 2021
  • Most blooms—even the harmless ones—look and smell funky (Krimsky describes the odor as a musty decay).
    — Julia Ries, Outside Online, 9 Aug. 2024
  • The bet is that new, clean stuff will make the old, dirty stuff harmless or irrelevant.
    — Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 2 Dec. 2022
  • Most are harmless ripoffs—young women trying to cash in on the Zeitgeist.
    — Oscar Schwartz, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2023
  • What seems harmless to you can be life-threatening to wildlife.
    — David Faris, Newsweek, 29 Dec. 2024
  • Hundreds of space rocks hit Earth every year, and most are harmless.
    — Corinne Purtill, Anchorage Daily News, 15 Feb. 2023
  • As the bears run away, wildlife officers shout at them and fire harmless powder balls at them, the video shows.
    — Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 23 May 2024
  • Many are harmless and, in many cases, can even be helpful.
    — Alex Yampolsky, Verywell Health, 17 July 2024
  • The slow-moving sharks, which like to dwell near the sea floor in warm, shallow waters, are – for the most part – harmless to humans.
    — Nell Lewis; Video By Angus Watson, CNN, 2 Nov. 2022
  • But the way that Butler comes off as more harmless than the real Elvis ties into the key problem with the film’s first half.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 25 May 2022
  • Schools were held harmless during the current school year.
    — Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Nov. 2021
  • This will be the fourth year that schools have either been held harmless or not received a letter grade.
    — Kaitlin Lange, The Indianapolis Star, 10 Jan. 2022
  • Though the release of balloons may seem harmless, and a law against it could seem rather strange, celebratory balloons could pose a danger to wildlife.
    — Ashlyn Messier, Fox News, 20 Dec. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'harmless.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: