Harmless
Harmless adjective - Not causing or being capable of causing injury or hurt.
Usage example: a perfectly harmless little spider
Poisonous
Poisonous adjective - Containing or contaminated with a substance capable of injuring or killing a living thing.
Usage example: some evil person was leaving out poisonous meat for neighborhood dogs to eat
Both words in one sentence
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He tells Torres to look up the monarch and the viceroy butterflies - predators won't touch either butterfly because they look so similar, but one is harmless and the other is poisonous.
Source: Series / Lie to Me - Perhaps the phrase itself is totally harmless — but it won't be by the time your poisonous rival's through with it.
Source: Twisting the Words -
The City of Thieves features another version, with pills: five harmless, one poisonous.
Source: Russian Roulette
Cite this Source
Poisonous and Harmless. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/harmless/poisonous
Harmless & Poisonous. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/harmless/poisonous>.
Poisonous or Harmless. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/harmless/poisonous.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "harmless" and "poisonous" have occurred on timeline