Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: French
Origin: pernicieux, from Latin perniciosus, from pernicies 'destruction', from nex 'violent death'

pernicious

 adjective
     
per‧ni‧cious formal
very harmful or evil, often in a way that you do not notice easily:
the pernicious effects of poverty
the media's pernicious influence
—perniciously adverb
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
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