hurt; hurting
1
2
a
: to cause emotional pain or anguish to : offend
never meant to hurt you
got her feelings hurt
b
: to be detrimental to : hamper
charges of graft hurt his chances of being elected
1
a
: to suffer pain or grief
He says his tooth hurts.
has been hurting ever since learning of her friend's betrayal
b
: to be in need
—usually used with for
hurting for money
2
: to cause damage or distress
hit where it hurts
hurt
adjective
hurter
noun
Synonyms
Examples of hurt in a Sentence
Verb
Be careful with that knife or you could hurt yourself.
Ouch! You're hurting my arm!
She was badly hurt in a car accident.
My tooth still hurts me.
When I woke up this morning I hurt all over.
Their lack of interest in her work hurt her deeply.
You're only hurting yourself by holding a grudge against them.
It hurt me to see her go.
The lack of rain has hurt the corn crop.
If we lose this game it will seriously hurt our chances of making the play-offs.
Noun
Her sympathy eased the hurt he felt after his dog's death.
They felt a great hurt after their bitter divorce.
She tried to put past hurts behind her.
Recent Examples on the Web
Vinamrata Chaturvedi, Quartz, 23 Apr. 2024
But Heydon argues that trade weapons hurt those who wield them and threaten the vitality of the global trading system.
—Ken Heydon, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
The new statute prohibits the dissemination of such content if it is created with the intent of hurting a candidate within 90 days of an election.
—Vera Bergengruen, TIME, 23 Apr. 2024
The Biden administration has argued that these agreements harm workers by lowering wages and hurt the U.S. economy by stifling entrepreneurship.
—Andrea Hsu, NPR, 23 Apr. 2024
Moreover these Americans extrapolate out and think a switchover to renewable energy, in particular, hurts the U.S. economy and hurts jobs.
—Anthony Salvanto, CBS News, 22 Apr. 2024
Nobody expected the Sharks to make the playoffs this season, but the team’s 41-98-25 record these past two years was worse than expected, and that record, among other things, has hurt attendance.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2024
Toeing a tricky line, Feldman was trying to provide an extreme event while also making sure no one got seriously hurt, which could have caused a public backlash and killed his sport outright.
—Stayton Bonner, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2024
But an assault rises to the level of a felony when a dangerous or deadly weapon is used or when the injury is so serious that a person was at a substantial risk of death, is disfigured, is expected to experience long-term health problems or hurts or loses an organ during the attack.
—Chelsia Rose Marcius, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Melissa Girimonte, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2024
So the world could see exactly what kind of hurt might lie below.
—Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
One of those is called 77 Sports Marketing, citing the number of years of hurt that passed since a Briton had won Wimbledon before Murray famously beat Novak Djokovic in 2013.
—Tim Ellis, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
But Turner's words of compassion did nothing to soothe the hurt some educators are feeling.
—The Enquirer, 25 Mar. 2024
This time, however, our visiting, taciturn investigator is white, although no less affected by a hard land’s lingering hurts.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
Three separate, unrelated shootings erupted within an hour in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, on Sunday night, leaving one person dead and several hurt, according to authorities.
—Jolie Lash, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024
After missing three games with an ankle injury last season, Campbell took to social media to express frustration about playing hurt.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2024
Prince Harry and Prince William's lack of interaction during the Duke of Sussex’s recent trip to the U.K. to see King Charles amid the news of his cancer diagnosis highlights the hurt between the brothers.
—Simon Perry, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024
Verb
That’s because international markets reported better volume and sales growth than North America, while product recalls and weaker demand from lower-income consumers hurt sales in its home market.
—Vinamrata Chaturvedi, Quartz, 23 Apr. 2024
But Heydon argues that trade weapons hurt those who wield them and threaten the vitality of the global trading system.
—Ken Heydon, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
The new statute prohibits the dissemination of such content if it is created with the intent of hurting a candidate within 90 days of an election.
—Vera Bergengruen, TIME, 23 Apr. 2024
The Biden administration has argued that these agreements harm workers by lowering wages and hurt the U.S. economy by stifling entrepreneurship.
—Andrea Hsu, NPR, 23 Apr. 2024
Moreover these Americans extrapolate out and think a switchover to renewable energy, in particular, hurts the U.S. economy and hurts jobs.
—Anthony Salvanto, CBS News, 22 Apr. 2024
Nobody expected the Sharks to make the playoffs this season, but the team’s 41-98-25 record these past two years was worse than expected, and that record, among other things, has hurt attendance.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2024
Toeing a tricky line, Feldman was trying to provide an extreme event while also making sure no one got seriously hurt, which could have caused a public backlash and killed his sport outright.
—Stayton Bonner, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2024
But an assault rises to the level of a felony when a dangerous or deadly weapon is used or when the injury is so serious that a person was at a substantial risk of death, is disfigured, is expected to experience long-term health problems or hurts or loses an organ during the attack.
—Chelsia Rose Marcius, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Noun
She was hurt when Fleetwood Mac fired Buckingham When Buckingham was fired from Fleetwood Mac in 2018, Messner didn’t shy away from expressing her hurt.
—Melissa Girimonte, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2024
So the world could see exactly what kind of hurt might lie below.
—Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
One of those is called 77 Sports Marketing, citing the number of years of hurt that passed since a Briton had won Wimbledon before Murray famously beat Novak Djokovic in 2013.
—Tim Ellis, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
But Turner's words of compassion did nothing to soothe the hurt some educators are feeling.
—The Enquirer, 25 Mar. 2024
This time, however, our visiting, taciturn investigator is white, although no less affected by a hard land’s lingering hurts.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
Three separate, unrelated shootings erupted within an hour in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, on Sunday night, leaving one person dead and several hurt, according to authorities.
—Jolie Lash, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024
After missing three games with an ankle injury last season, Campbell took to social media to express frustration about playing hurt.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2024
Prince Harry and Prince William's lack of interaction during the Duke of Sussex’s recent trip to the U.K. to see King Charles amid the news of his cancer diagnosis highlights the hurt between the brothers.
—Simon Perry, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hurt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hurt
Cite this Entry
“Hurt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurt. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hurt
1 of 2 verb
hurt; hurting
1
a
: to cause physical pain to
b
: to do harm to : damage
2
a
: to cause mental suffering to : offend
the teasing hurts me
b
: hamper entry 1
injuries hurt our chances of winning
3
: to feel or cause pain
my tooth hurts
hurter
noun
hurt
2 of 2 noun1
: a cause of injury or damage
2
: a physical injury or wound
3
a
: physical pain
b
: mental distress : suffering
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