pernicious
pernicious
adjective
/pəˈnɪʃəs/
(formal)
​having a very harmful effect on somebody/something, especially in a way that is not easily noticed
the pernicious influence of TV violence on children
Ageism is equally as offensive and pernicious as sexism.
Collocations
noun
influence
myth
Word Origin
late Middle English: from Latin perniciosus ‘destructive’, from pernicies ‘ruin’, based on nex, nec- ‘death’.