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innocuous

in·noc·u·ous/ɪˈnɑkjuəs/adjective

innocuous is spelled I-N-N-O-C-U-O-U-S: 9 letters and 4 syllables (in·noc·u·ous). It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, innocuous means “Harmless; producing no ill effect” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in innocuous?

Letters9: I-N-N-O-C-U-O-U-S
Syllables4: in·noc·u·ous
In writing1.1 times per million words; the 26,776th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is innocuous?

Innocuous appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce innocuous?

  • UK /ɪˈnɒkjuəs/
  • US /ɪˈnɑkjuəs/

Innocuous has 4 syllables, split in·noc·u·ous in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-innocuous.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of innocuous

  • more innocuous comparative
  • most innocuous superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does innocuous mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Harmless; producing no ill effect.

  2. 2

    Inoffensive; unprovocative; unexceptionable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Innocuous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchinoffensif (harmless – see also harmless)
Germanharmlos (harmless – see also harmless), unverfänglich, konform, gewöhnlich (inoffensive – see also inoffensive, innocent)
Portugueseinócuo (harmless – see also harmless)
Spanishinocuo, innocuo (harmless – see also harmless)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does innocuous come from?

From Latin innocuus (“harmless”) (therefore, no gemination in + nocuous).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after innocuous