as in damages
something that causes loss or pain
you were lucky to survive the fire without harm no harm in trying
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in injures
to cause bodily damage to
though she wasn't harmed by the flying glass, she slipped and fell on a piece and cut her hand
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hurts
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
the company's reputation has been harmed by allegations of crooked accounting
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of harms
Kevin Breuninger,annie Palmer, CNBC, 20 May 2026
Along with the warning on the harms of screen use, the new advisory includes a toolkit that offers recommendations on how to identify harmful behaviors around screens and how to limit screen time.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN Money, 20 May 2026
Districts argue that the harms that social media’s addictive platforms cause have diverted resources from education into counseling, crisis intervention, and safety programs.
—Bhakti Mirchandani, Forbes.com, 19 May 2026
Many claims vastly overstate actual AI sophistication, misleading people about true capabilities, future outcomes and potential harms.
—Suvrat Dhanorkar, The Conversation, 18 May 2026
But guidelines seek to balance the benefits of catching cancer early with possible harms, such as stress and pain from investigating suspicious spots that don't turn out to be cancerous.
—ABC News, 16 May 2026
The government, Anti-Slavery International, said, must push forward the introduction of a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act that creates a legal duty on businesses to identify, prevent and address human rights and environmental harms.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 15 May 2026
The update reflects the state’s evolving understanding of its most dangerous pollutants, which has shifted over the decades from visible pollutants, such as smog, to more invisible ones that cause cancer, heart disease and other health harms.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026
OpenAI has argued that Musk waited too long and cannot claim harms that occurred before August 2021.
—Matt O'Brien, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2026
Gavin Escott, USA Today, 20 May 2026
Denver District Court Judge Ericka Eckhart opted not to require Children’s to restart care, finding that the potential harms to the hospital and its other patients from losing federal funding would outweigh harm to the plaintiffs.
—Meg Wingerter, Denver Post, 18 May 2026
But when the pressure to succeed remains high, and the cost/difficulty of AI tools remains low, many students are tempted to take a shortcut, even one that ultimately harms them.
—Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 13 May 2026
And, like its predecessors, this picture tries to present an innocent image of a product that harms human health and the environment.
—Annie Persons, The Conversation, 7 May 2026
No matter the method, every variation of this practice harms audiences, artists, venues and the live entertainment industry.
—Lori Dimun, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2026
Cerda says this Latino wealth gap report is important because the immigration crackdown of undocumented Latino people leads to uncertainty about their futures, the inability to be promoted or to apply for other jobs because of their undocumented status, which ultimately harms Texas’ economy.
—Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 May 2026
Throwing food waste like apple cores out of your car window harms wildlife, ecosystems, and the outdoor experience.
—Emily Hayes, Martha Stewart, 2 May 2026
By spacing screenings to every two years, the ACP argues the tradeoff between early detection and minimizing those harms shifts in most women’s favor.
—Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 30 Apr. 2026
Noun
Respondents pointed to the potential harms of AI on creativity and relationships and expressed pessimism about its impact on education and jobs.
—Kevin Breuninger,annie Palmer, CNBC, 20 May 2026
Along with the warning on the harms of screen use, the new advisory includes a toolkit that offers recommendations on how to identify harmful behaviors around screens and how to limit screen time.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN Money, 20 May 2026
Districts argue that the harms that social media’s addictive platforms cause have diverted resources from education into counseling, crisis intervention, and safety programs.
—Bhakti Mirchandani, Forbes.com, 19 May 2026
Many claims vastly overstate actual AI sophistication, misleading people about true capabilities, future outcomes and potential harms.
—Suvrat Dhanorkar, The Conversation, 18 May 2026
But guidelines seek to balance the benefits of catching cancer early with possible harms, such as stress and pain from investigating suspicious spots that don't turn out to be cancerous.
—ABC News, 16 May 2026
The government, Anti-Slavery International, said, must push forward the introduction of a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act that creates a legal duty on businesses to identify, prevent and address human rights and environmental harms.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 15 May 2026
The update reflects the state’s evolving understanding of its most dangerous pollutants, which has shifted over the decades from visible pollutants, such as smog, to more invisible ones that cause cancer, heart disease and other health harms.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026
OpenAI has argued that Musk waited too long and cannot claim harms that occurred before August 2021.
—Matt O'Brien, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2026
Verb
Using it on lawns and the environment harms the natural predators to species homeowners and farmers are trying to control, which can lead to a surge in those unwanted populations.
—Gavin Escott, USA Today, 20 May 2026
Denver District Court Judge Ericka Eckhart opted not to require Children’s to restart care, finding that the potential harms to the hospital and its other patients from losing federal funding would outweigh harm to the plaintiffs.
—Meg Wingerter, Denver Post, 18 May 2026
But when the pressure to succeed remains high, and the cost/difficulty of AI tools remains low, many students are tempted to take a shortcut, even one that ultimately harms them.
—Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 13 May 2026
And, like its predecessors, this picture tries to present an innocent image of a product that harms human health and the environment.
—Annie Persons, The Conversation, 7 May 2026
No matter the method, every variation of this practice harms audiences, artists, venues and the live entertainment industry.
—Lori Dimun, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2026
Cerda says this Latino wealth gap report is important because the immigration crackdown of undocumented Latino people leads to uncertainty about their futures, the inability to be promoted or to apply for other jobs because of their undocumented status, which ultimately harms Texas’ economy.
—Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 May 2026
Throwing food waste like apple cores out of your car window harms wildlife, ecosystems, and the outdoor experience.
—Emily Hayes, Martha Stewart, 2 May 2026
By spacing screenings to every two years, the ACP argues the tradeoff between early detection and minimizing those harms shifts in most women’s favor.
—Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 30 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harms
Noun
-
The lawsuit alleges widespread discrimination, especially at Tesla’s Fremont factory, and seeks financial damages and injunctive relief.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
27 May 2026
-
Look for those that cover manufacturing defects for at least one year after the original purchase date, and think about adding extra coverage for accidental damages imparted on your own behalf.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
27 May 2026
Verb
-
This storyline later appeared in the second season of Girls, as Dunham’s character Hannah is overwhelmed with the anxiety of writing a novel and similarly injures herself.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Apr. 2026
-
In her desperation to ask Val for a job on the new sitcom, Sharon falls and injures herself.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Holding these things in only hurts you and those around you.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 May 2026
-
Plus, an extra income never hurts.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
23 May 2026
Noun
-
No other injuries were reported.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
26 May 2026
-
One of the individuals did not survive their injuries, but Gaines declined to provide information about whether the driver or the bicyclist died as a result of their injuries, citing the need to notify the victim’s family members.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
25 May 2026
Verb
-
Chops, gouges, wounds it like the shadow grooves on the sidewalks—the sun is setting earlier.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Imperfect fleshly reality occupies the stage, the region where bones crack and wounds suppurate, schlumpy humans fall for each other, and jealousy roams murderously free.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
No sadness mars the purity of its paranoia.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2026
-
However, an earnestness mars most of the proceedings.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Organizations often assume that leaders working across contexts bring less focus and that divided attention weakens effectiveness.—
Henrik Totterman,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2026
-
Gravity weakens with the square of the distance between the two, so a star that was on the far side of the Milky Way from the edge-on collision point would feel a much less powerful gravitational attraction than a star on the near side would.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
22 May 2026
Verb
-
The author takes an overnight Amtrak journey instead of a flight to Washington as the government shutdown cripples Atlanta’s airport.—
Bill Barrow,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Mar. 2026
-
These pressures could produce a tsunami that fractures the state’s fiscal foundation, self-inflicts a crisis ultimately demanding drastic cuts, and cripples its competitiveness.—
Andrew Rein,
New York Daily News,
6 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harms. Accessed 30 May. 2026.
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