# pernicious

> English word · Adjective · IPA /pəˈnɪʃəs/ · frequency rank #34,222

## Definitions
1. Causing much harm in a subtle way.
2. Causing death or injury; deadly.
3. Insidiously villainous: intending to cause harm, especially in a subtle way.

## Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French pernicios, from Latin perniciōsus (“destructive”), from perniciēs (“destruction”), from per (“through”) + nex (“slaughter, death”).

## Common misspellings (14)
`eprnicious`, `penricious`, `perincious`, `pernciious`, `perniccious`, `perniciosu`, `perniciouss`, `perniciuos`, `pernicoius`, `perniicous`, `pernnicious`, `perrnicious`, `ppernicious`, `prenicious`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pernicious