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# harmlessly

adverb (harmlessly)

«harmlessly» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

Harmlessly means without causing any hurt or damage. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#m1)

### In the lessons

In science and safety lessons some things pass harmlessly: most small meteors burn up harmlessly in the air; most spiders in the UK are harmless. In stories a ball might bounce harmlessly off a wall, or a joke is meant harmlessly. Phrases: «pass harmlessly», «bounce harmlessly», «land harmlessly».

### Examples

- The ball bounced harmlessly off the window. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#x1)
- Most meteors burn up harmlessly in the sky. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#x2)
- The bee flew harmlessly past my face. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#x3)
- The joke was meant harmlessly, but it hurt her feelings. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#x4)
- The firework fizzled out harmlessly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#x5)
- The storm passed harmlessly out to sea. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#x6)
- Rain ran harmlessly off the tent. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#x7)
- The snake slid harmlessly into the grass. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#x8)
- This time the arrow again hit the centipede right in the middle of its head, but instead of glancing off harmlessly as before, it struck home to the creature’s brain. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/#x9)

### Note

Built from harm + less (without) + ly: harm → harmless (adjective) → harmlessly (adverb). Opposite: harmfully. Trap: something done «harmlessly» on purpose can still upset people — what feels harmless to you may not be to others.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «harmlessly» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harmlessly/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«harmlessly» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/harmlessly.html) on Mova free.