Pernicious

/pəˈnɪʃəs/

Synonyms for "pernicious" (88 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Choosing the right synonym

  • Closest matches in this entry: deadly, insidious, baleful, baneful, baneful.
  • Sentence evidence is available for pernicious, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
  • Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.

Synonym selection checklist

  • Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
  • Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
  • Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "pernicious".
  • Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.

When not to replace "pernicious"

Keep "pernicious" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.

If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.

Replacement workflow

1. Preserve meaning

Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "pernicious" intact in the sentence you are editing.

2. Tune tone

Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.

3. Re-read context

Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.

Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.

Final fit check

After choosing a replacement for "pernicious", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.

If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "pernicious" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

6 relation types

More general

6 entries
disease stateharmful attributehazardous agentmedical conditionnegative qualitytoxic substance

More specific

9 entries
corrupting normcultural biasharmful traditionlethal diseasemalignant tumorpoisonoustoxictoxicanttoxin

Collocations

6 entries
pernicious effectpernicious influencepernicious liepernicious practicepernicious rumorpernicious stereotype

Inflections

2 entries
more perniciousmost pernicious

Derivations

2 entries

similar

2 entries

Sample sentences

18 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

The Displacement of the idea that facts and evidence matter, by the idea that everything boils down to subjective interests and perspectives is — second only to American political campaigns — the most prominent and pernicious manifestation of anti-intellectualism in our time.

Source: tatoeba (723883)

Pervasive and pernicious deviations from both fact and logical validity lurked behind a meretricious plausibility.

Source: tatoeba (2119619)

I think that the romantic myth is one of the most pernicious of our times.

Source: tatoeba (2217792)

The essay itself isn't a problem, but all these pernicious questions and glossary make me awfully mad!

Source: tatoeba (3495511)

Showing 4 of 18 available sentences.

Common questions

What are the closest synonyms for "pernicious"?

Closest matches include deadly, insidious, baleful, baneful, baneful.

How should I check whether a synonym fits "pernicious"?

Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.

More for "pernicious"