deleterious

deleterious

From Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day by Merriam-Webster

June 9, 2026 · 2 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the word 'deleterious', its meaning, usage, and examples of its application in language.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 9, 2026 is: deleterious • \del-uh-TEER-ee-us\  • adjective Deleterious is a word used in formal speech and writing to describe something that is damaging or harmful, usually in a subtle or unexpected way. // Though effective at keeping pests away from plants, the spray is no longer used because of its deleterious effects on the respiratory system. See the entry > Examples: “Canceling email addresses used by alumni over many years could have deleterious consequences for professional networking, which will become increasingly important as the AI roll-out accelerates and disrupts careers for thousands of college graduates.” — William Golz, NOLA.com (New Orleans, Louisiana), 15 Apr. 2026 Did you know? When you hold down the delete key on your keyboard or touchscreen, the effect—whoosh!—is instantaneous. Deleterious effects, however, are often not so obvious; deleterious (ultimately from a Greek word meaning “to hurt”) is used to describe things that are harmful in ways that are unexpected, slow-acting, or not readily apparent. Although most often used in formal speech and writing, deleterious is far from rare. It even pops…

People in this episode

Host: Merriam-Webster

Topics covered

  • language
  • vocabulary
  • adjectives
  • formal speech
  • harmful effects

Keywords

  • deleterious
  • adjective
  • harmful
  • language
  • vocabulary
  • formal speech
  • unexpected effects

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Star Trek Voyager, Magnum P.I.

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