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hurt

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noun

hurt

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adjective

Synonym Chooser

How is the word hurt distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of hurt are damage, harm, impair, injure, and mar. While all these words mean "to affect injuriously," hurt implies inflicting a wound to the body or to the feelings.

hurt by their callous remarks

When can damage be used instead of hurt?

Although the words damage and hurt have much in common, damage suggests injury that lowers value or impairs usefulness.

a table damaged in shipping

When might harm be a better fit than hurt?

The words harm and hurt can be used in similar contexts, but harm often stresses the inflicting of pain, suffering, or loss.

careful not to harm the animals

When could impair be used to replace hurt?

The words impair and hurt are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, impair suggests a making less complete or efficient by deterioration or diminution.

years of smoking had impaired his health

When would injure be a good substitute for hurt?

While in some cases nearly identical to hurt, injure implies the inflicting of anything detrimental to one's looks, comfort, health, or success.

badly injured in an accident

When is mar a more appropriate choice than hurt?

While the synonyms mar and hurt are close in meaning, mar applies to injury that spoils perfection (as of a surface) or causes disfigurement.

the text is marred by many typos

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hurt
Noun
Those high duties, which were reduced from 120% to 54%, especially hurt low-cost sellers like Shein and Temu. European and Asian postal services have taken matters into their own hands by announcing plans to halt shipments as early as Monday. Auzinea Bacon, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2025 Too much honesty can destroy your book's impact and hurt your business. Vikrant Shaurya, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
According to Cramer, enterprise software is suffering because the industry might be one of the first hurt by new generative artificial intelligence technology. Julie Coleman, CNBC, 29 July 2025 That’s because there’s a lot of hurt between the two, which goes back to when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left their positions as working royals, and has gotten worse now, considering the two aren’t talking to each other. Lissete Lanuza Sáenz, StyleCaster, 11 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for hurt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurt
Verb
  • Kukla is prone to cutesy phrases like ‘ninja-grade communication skills’ and exclamation marks, to anesthetizing what ought to ache.
    Book Marks August 21, Literary Hub, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Google's smart home devices are aching for a refresh.
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Hailey has an even rarer type of the illness, an extreme form of hemophilia B. That means bleeding inside his body could damage organs or tissue and quickly put his life at risk.
    Beth Warren, The Tennessean, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Scars on the trunks of floodplain trees where other wood in the swiftly flowing water smacked into the tree trunk with enough force to damage the bark or even shear off the living tree.
    Ellen Wohl August 20, Literary Hub, 20 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • In the quarterfinals, Miami beat Mexican club Tigres 2-1 despite the absence of Messi, who was injured.
    Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 30 Aug. 2025
  • Substantially damaging or injuring a neighbor's tree could leave you liable to fees or fines for damages, something that can quickly get expensive, according to state law.
    Keely Doll, Louisville Courier Journal, 30 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Police initially treated them as grieving orphans, but they were eventually arrested and charged with first-degree murder in 1990.
    Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving.
    Marina Watts, People.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Extreme emotional distress can produce a heart attack, which is not a symptom of emotional distress.
    Robert W. Wood, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
  • The strains on international enrollment only add to distress for schools already on the financial brink.
    Collin Binkley, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Another post fact-checking Kennedy’s claims about potential harms from aluminum in vaccines had 1 million views in its first 48 hours.
    Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Invasive species are non-native plants that spread across a landscape, causing harm to economic, environmental or human health.
    Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 20 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • In archival footage and exclusive interviews, the people touched by this case are still pained by its memory.
    Cat Cardenas, Rolling Stone, 10 Aug. 2025
  • The dialogue, much of it pained and pointed, sticks too.
    Guy Lodge, Variety, 10 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Boston comes in with three straight losses marring otherwise agreeable vibes.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Many worried that the marshy western shore of the borough had been forever marred.
    Eric Lach, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Hurt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurt. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.

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