innocuous

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 9, 2026, is the adjective innocuous, pronounced \ih-NAH-kyuh-wus\. The word defines something that is not likely to bother or offend anyone, such as an innocuous comment, or something that causes no injury and is considered harmless, like an innocuous prank. An example usage shows a seemingly innocuous question leading a candidate to abruptly end a press conference. Another example illustrates solar storms having the comparatively innocuous consequence of intensifying displays of the northern lights on Earth. The etymology of innocuous lies in the concept of lacking harm, deriving from the Latin adjective innocuus. This Latin root was formed by combining the negative prefix in- with a form of the verb nocēre, which means “to harm” or “to hurt.” Innocuous first appeared in print in the early 1600s with the literal meaning of "harmless" or "causing no injury," initially applied to things like an innocuous gas. Soon after, it developed a metaphorical meaning describing something that does not offend or cause emotional hurt, such as an innocuous comment. The word innocent followed a similar historical development centuries earlier, also combining the negative prefix in- with a Latin form derived from nocēre. Importantly, nocēre has also contributed words that convey harm, rather than its negation, exemplified by noxious and nuisance.