as in detrimental
causing or capable of causing harm
DDT has been proven to be extremely harmful to the environment
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harmful
Several Democratic politicians, to their credit, spoke out against Newsom’s harmful remarks.
—
Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2025
Removing a joey from their mother is extremely distressing and any separation is harmful.
—Rebecca Schneid, TIME, 13 Mar. 2025
Some had ignored public health advice and listened to people who said vaccines were harmful — including a local pathologist who promoted COVID-19 vaccine skepticism and ineffective treatments, then won appointment to a public health board alongside Labrador.
—Audrey Dutton, ProPublica, 12 Mar. 2025
The rapid evolution in artificial intelligence worries me, because it can be used for harmful purposes as well as good.
—Gary Robbins, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmful
Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2025
Removing a joey from their mother is extremely distressing and any separation is harmful.
—Rebecca Schneid, TIME, 13 Mar. 2025
Some had ignored public health advice and listened to people who said vaccines were harmful — including a local pathologist who promoted COVID-19 vaccine skepticism and ineffective treatments, then won appointment to a public health board alongside Labrador.
—Audrey Dutton, ProPublica, 12 Mar. 2025
The rapid evolution in artificial intelligence worries me, because it can be used for harmful purposes as well as good.
—Gary Robbins, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harmful
Adjective
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The outcome was detrimental to Sacramento’s position in the play-in race while dealing another blow to the team’s hopes of securing an automatic playoff berth as one of the top six teams in the Western Conference.—
Jason Anderson,
Sacramento Bee,
11 Mar. 2025
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This buildup can have a detrimental effect on your plumbing system, so it's recommended to install a softener as soon as possible to treat the hard water issues and protect the plumbing.—
Timothy Dale,
Better Homes & Gardens,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The storms are threatening large hail and damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Apr. 2025
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But in recent years, lung disease for miners has become a major concern again, Laney says, because coal increasingly comes from mines embedded in sandstone, and which generates dust that's 20 times more damaging to lungs than coal.—
Yuki Noguchi,
NPR,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The areas at risk for dangerous ocean impacts include San Francisco, coastal North Bay including Point Reyes National Seashore, Santa Cruz, San Francisco's peninsula coast, northern Monterey Bay, southern Monterey Bay, and Big Sur coast.—
Kevin Sabet,
Newsweek,
24 Mar. 2025
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The top of the Mets’ order is dangerous.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
24 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The foreign material could pose serious adverse health consequences, leading the FSIS to consider the recall a Class I—the agency's highest level of alert.—
Abigail Wilt,
Southern Living,
7 Apr. 2025
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And while the metal is usually excreted from the body, and most people experience no adverse side effects, previous research has shown some gadolinium particles have been left behind.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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What happened was my bad behavior and my angst brought the energy finally.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
People.com,
5 Apr. 2025
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Hundreds of homes were damaged when a bad rainstorm hit in 2023.—
Susannah Bryan,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harmful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harmful. Accessed 18 Apr. 2025.
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