as in healthy
not likely to cause someone to be afraid or worried; not threatening
It's best to approach the dog in a calm, nonthreatening way.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nonthreatening
Talk over your concerns with your boss in a nonthreatening and professional way.
—
Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2022
Much like Uncle Tom, Xavier, the perfect biracial teenager, is presented as a nonthreatening fantasy for the book’s white audience.
—Kiley Reid, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2020
There were only nine cases in the city; even to a doctor, that seemed nonthreatening.
—Jonathan Kolatch, WSJ, 7 Apr. 2020
The whole production is tidy, predictable, nonthreatening, and occasionally entertaining.
—Michael J. Socolow, Quartz, 19 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for nonthreatening
Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2022
Much like Uncle Tom, Xavier, the perfect biracial teenager, is presented as a nonthreatening fantasy for the book’s white audience.
—Kiley Reid, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2020
There were only nine cases in the city; even to a doctor, that seemed nonthreatening.
—Jonathan Kolatch, WSJ, 7 Apr. 2020
The whole production is tidy, predictable, nonthreatening, and occasionally entertaining.
—Michael J. Socolow, Quartz, 19 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for nonthreatening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonthreatening
Adjective
-
Emergency aid for families caught in conflict zones Parents caught in crises struggle to meet their children's needs and to provide them with a safe and healthy childhood, despite the circumstances.—
Sarah Ferguson,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2025
-
But those findings apply to small-by-design campuses with healthy enrollments, not schools that have shrunk dramatically as families have moved away.—
Jennifer Smith Richards,
ProPublica,
13 June 2025
Adjective
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What some viewers initially perceived as a harmless prank quickly escalated into a tense exchange.—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
12 June 2025
-
In contrast to organic arsenic, a largely harmless compound commonly found in seafood, less than an eighth of a teaspoon of the inorganic powder can be fatal to an adult.—
Caroline Fraser
June 10,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2025
Adjective
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But a lot of people hear things that aren’t there, and some find the experience both benign and controllable.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
3 June 2025
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Perhaps most important, many observers at the time considered China to be relatively benign and largely content to keep its military within its own borders.—
Eric S. Edelman,
Foreign Affairs,
3 June 2025
Adjective
-
Maybe that’s the lesson the university is actually communicating to its students, beneath whatever charmingly nasal encouragement Kermit doles out on graduation day: to err on the unobjectionable side when things look dicey.—
Callie Holtermann,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
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Many orders can be unobjectionable, such as giving federal employees the day after Christmas off.—
Josh Boak,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
The party scenes with leggy dancers, meant to be decadent, are inoffensive.—
Mark Swed,
Los Angeles Times,
3 June 2025
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But its efforts to remain anonymous and inoffensive have been undone by allegations of labor abuses, environmental criticisms and, despite moving its headquarters to Singapore, persistent concerns about its Chinese ownership.—
Timothy McLaughlin,
Wired News,
5 May 2025
Adjective
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These costly compliance burdens may be expected to discourage some innocuous mergers, particularly by smaller parties.—
Alden Abbott,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2025
-
That by itself seemed innocuous, and thus the prosecutor (who did not have easy access to the explanatory data) was unable to explain to the judge why the office had decided to seek confinement.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
8 June 2025
Adjective
-
Its symptoms can include painless swelling of lymph nodes in your neck, armpits or groin, persistent fatigue, fever, night sweats, shortness of breath, unexplained weight loss and itchy skin.—
Ilana Kaplan,
People.com,
9 May 2025
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Setup should be relatively painless thanks to autofocus, auto keystone correction and fit-to-screen.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Here are recommendations for maintaining safety during a thunderstorm: To minimize risk of being struck by lightning, when going outside, have a plan to get to a safer place.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
7 June 2025
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While relatively safe for humans in small doses, THC can be toxic for dogs.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nonthreatening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonthreatening. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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