deleterious
harmful or damaging, often in a subtle way
Word origin: From Greek deleterios, noxious, from delesthai, to hurt.
Deleterious in a sentence
Here are example sentences showing deleterious in a sentence.
Studies link prolonged stress to deleterious effects on the heart.
Researchers warned that chronic sleep loss has deleterious effects on memory that accumulate over years.
Using “deleterious” well
Deleterious describes harm that is often gradual or hidden, pairing with injurious and detrimental. It is a formal word favored in scientific and academic prose.
More GRE words starting with D
to engage in something superficially or as a casual pastime
a raised platform for speakers or honored guests
to waste time or act without urgency
to make something slightly wet, or to make a feeling or reaction less strong
marked with spots or patches of color or light
to intimidate or discourage with fear or doubt
to move slowly or waste time idly
a scarcity or shortage of something
Questions about “deleterious”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.