perniciousnessn.
/pəˈnɪʃəsnəs/, U.S. /pərˈnɪʃəsnəs/ The quality of being pernicious; harmfulness; destructiveness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > destructiveness
perniciousness1581
destructiveness1647
ruinousness1660
interdestructiveness1817
destructivity1902
destructivism1927
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 472 b This notorious See..doth ouerwhelme the whole state of ye world with vnrecoverable perniciousnes.
1651 N. Biggs Matæotechnia Medicinæ Praxeωs ⁋115 The perniciousnesse of laxatives.
1712 G. Berkeley Passive Obed. §24. 31 The absurdity and perniciousness of those Notions.
1799 C. B. Brown Edgar Huntly II. xii. 34 The instability of life and happiness was forcibly illustrated, as well as the perniciousness of error.
1884 Manch. Examiner 23 Sept. 5/1 To point out its perniciousness and the temptations to which it exposes its victims.
1946 Philos. & Phenomenol. Res. 7 66 The eighteenth century histories with their beloved phrases about the perniciousness of ambition.
1998 Afr. Amer. Rev. 32 82/2 Neighborhood responsibility and positive role modeling for youth wither under the weight of the perniciousness of hard drugs, crime and greed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1581