adjective · neutral
innocuous
UK/ɪˈnɒkjʊəs/US/ɪˈnɑːkjuəs/i·NOC·u·ous
Band 6-7speakingtask2
not harmful or offensive; unlikely to cause trouble
Examples
“At first the comment seemed innocuous, but some people were offended.”
“The chemical appears innocuous in small doses.”
“He gave an innocuous smile when asked about his plans.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although the advertisement seemed innocuous at first glance, closer analysis revealed subtle stereotyping.”
Collocations
- seem innocuous
- an innocuous remark
Word family
innocuous adjectiveinnocuously adverbinnocuousness noun
Common mistakes
He made an innocent remark, so nobody complained.→He made an innocuous remark, so nobody complained.
Say it for a higher band
5harmless→6not harmful→7+innocuous
Synonyms
harmless
Easily confused
innocent
“Her joke sounded innocuous, but some listeners misunderstood it.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In -ous
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