carcinogenic
adjective
Jefferson KollePeter Bernfeld
Philip M. Boffey
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It sometimes seems as if the list of carcinogenic substances gets longer every day. A substance such as a food additive that's been in common use for years may unexpectedly show signs of being carcinogenic in laboratory experiments. When that happens, the suspected carcinogen will often have to be withdrawn from the market. When a building material like asbestos turns out to be a carcinogen, it may also have to be physically removed from buildings. English has hundreds of other scientific words ending in -genic (such as allergenic), and in almost all of them the ending means "causing".
Examples of carcinogenic in a Sentence
Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 24 Apr. 2025
Cigarette smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals—many of which are highly toxic and carcinogenic.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Apr. 2025
Analysts also probe for asbestos — a job that expanded as the carcinogenic material turned up in many more locations than expected.
—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2025
Read more Food recall Trader Joe's Food Recalled in 31 States: Full List of Products Impacted
However, Yellow 5 can cause allergic reactions, and also contains the carcinogenic contaminants Benzidine and 4-amino-biphenyl.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for carcinogenic
Cite this Entry
“Carcinogenic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carcinogenic. Accessed 17 May. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
carcinogenic
adjective
The Journal of the American Medical Association
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