Deleterious: meaning, example and synonyms
Deleteriousadj. Causing harm or damage, often in a gradual or subtle way.
Example
Long-term studies have shown that the pesticide has deleterious effects on bee colonies, impairing the insects' ability to navigate back to their hives.
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Synonyms
- harmful, damaging, detrimental, injurious
- Antonyms
- beneficial, harmless, salutary
- Memory tip
- DELETErious: it DELETEs your health bit by bit.
Deleterious is in batch 18. Study it with the rest of the batch, then pass the batch quiz to learn it. No account needed; progress is saved on this device.
Check yourself: Deleterious in context
Researchers found that prolonged exposure to the solvent had ______ effects on factory workers' lungs, which led regulators to ban its use in enclosed spaces.
Answer: deleterious. Effects bad enough to prompt a ban are harmful, so deleterious fits. reminiscent (suggestive of something else), extemporaneous (improvised) and insolent (rudely disrespectful) don't fit this context.
Invasive mussels have proven ______ to the lake's ecosystem, filtering out so much plankton that native fish populations have declined sharply.
Answer: deleterious. Mussels that cause fish to decline are harmful, so deleterious fits. abstruse (hard to understand), extemporaneous (improvised) and bellicose (eager to fight) don't fit this context.