Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus
1

damage

noun dam·age \ ˈda-mij \
|Updated on: 7 Jul 2018

Definition of damage

1 : loss or harm resulting from injury to person, property, or reputation
  • flood damage
  • sustained severe damage to her knee
2 damages plural : compensation in money imposed by law for loss or injury
  • The judge awarded them $5,000 in damages.
3 : expense, cost
  • "What's the damage?" he asked the waiter

See damage defined for English-language learners

See damage defined for kids

Examples of damage in a Sentence

  1. The items were carefully wrapped to protect them from damage during shipping.

  2. The city sustained heavy damage during the war.

  3. Fortunately the boat suffered no serious damage in the storm.

  4. The fall caused considerable damage to her knee.

  5. The disease is known to cause permanent brain damage.

  6. The scandal caused significant damage to her career.

  7. You've said enough. Please leave before you do any more damage.

  8. He tried to repair the damage by apologizing, but it was too late.

  9. He apologized, but the damage was already done.

Recent Examples of damage from the Web

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'damage.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of damage

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from dan damage, from Latin damnum — see 1damn

damage Synonyms

Synonyms

affliction, detriment, harm, hurt, injury;

Near Antonyms

healing, recovery;

cure, fix, remedy;

Related Words

disservice, injustice, outrage, wrong;

affront, dart, indignity, insult, offense (or offence);

beating, crippling, mayhem, mutilation;

defacement, disability, disablement, disfigurement, impairment;

lesion;

rupture, strain;

abrasion, chafe, scrape, scratch;

boo-boo, bruise, contusion, swelling, wound;

bump, concussion;

cut, gash, laceration;

burn, scald, scar, scathe, sear;

2

damage

verb

Definition of damage

damaged; damaging
transitive verb
: to cause damage (see 1damage 1) to
  • don't damage the furniture
  • returning soldiers damaged by war
—

damageability

play \ˌda-mi-jə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun
—

damager

noun

See damage defined for English-language learners

Examples of damage in a Sentence

  1. Please return any items that are damaged during shipping.

  2. Many homes were damaged or completely destroyed in the fire.

  3. The fall severely damaged her knee.

  4. Smoking can seriously damage your lungs.

  5. The scandal significantly damaged her career.

  6. This news will undoubtedly damage the governor's reputation.

  7. He was worried that his comments had seriously damaged their relationship.

  8. He's trying to repair his damaged reputation.

Recent Examples of damage from the Web

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'damage.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of damage

see 1damage

damage Synonyms

Synonyms

blemish, bloody, break, compromise, crab, cripple, cross (up), deface, disfigure, endamage, flaw, harm, hurt, impair, injure, mar, spoil, vitiate;

Antonyms

doctor, fix, mend, patch, rebuild, recondition, reconstruct, renovate, repair, revamp;

Near Antonyms

cure, heal, help, rectify, rehabilitate, remedy;

edit, remodel, revise;

ameliorate, better, enhance, enrich, improve, meliorate, perfect, refine;

Related Words

deteriorate, enervate, enfeeble, undermine, weaken;

erode, scour, wash out, wear (away);

blight, tarnish;

dent, ding, dint;

botch, gum (up), queer;

lacerate, wound;

disable, hamstring, lame, maim, mangle, mutilate, torment, torture;

annihilate, bang up, bash, batter, clobber, crush, dash, decimate, demolish, desolate, destroy, devastate, do in, pulverize, raze, ruin, scourge, shatter, smash, tear down, total, waste, wipe out, wreck;

Synonym Discussion of damage

injure, harm, hurt, damage, impair, mar mean to affect injuriously. injure implies the inflicting of anything detrimental to one's looks, comfort, health, or success.
    • badly injured in an accident
harm often stresses the inflicting of pain, suffering, or loss.
    • careful not to harm the animals
hurt implies inflicting a wound to the body or to the feelings.
    • hurt by their callous remarks
damage suggests injury that lowers value or impairs usefulness.
    • a table damaged in shipping
impair suggests a making less complete or efficient by deterioration or diminution.
    • years of smoking had impaired his health
mar applies to injury that spoils perfection (as of a surface) or causes disfigurement.
    • the text is marred by many typos

Phrases Related to DAMAGE

Related Phrases

DAMAGE Defined for English Language Learners

damage

noun

Definition of damage for English Language Learners

  • : physical harm that is done to something or to someone's body

  • : emotional harm that is done to someone

  • : problems that are caused by a mistake, wrong action, etc. : bad or harmful effects on a situation, a person's reputation, etc.

damage

verb

Definition of damage for English Language Learners

  • : to physically harm (something)

  • : to cause problems in or for (something) : to have a bad effect on (a situation, a person's reputation, etc.)

DAMAGE Defined for Kids

1

damage

noun dam·age \ ˈda-mij \

Definition of damage for Students

1 : loss or harm caused by injury to a person's body or property
  • How much damage was done to the car?
2 damages plural : money demanded or paid according to law for injury or damage The jury awarded $50,000 in damages.
2

damage

verb

Definition of damage for Students

damaged; damaging
: to cause harm or loss to

Law Dictionary

1

damage

noun dam·age

legal Definition of damage

1 : loss or harm resulting from injury to person, property, or reputation
2 plural : the money awarded to a party in a civil suit as reparation for the loss or injury for which another is liable — see also additur, cover, mitigate, remittitur — compare declaratory judgment at judgment 1a, injunction, specific performance at performance
Note: The trier of fact determines the amount of damages to be awarded to the prevailing party. More than one type of damages may be awarded for a single injury.
— actual damages
: damages deemed to compensate the injured party for losses sustained as a direct result of the injury suffered — called also compensatory damages
— consequential damages
: special damages in this entry
— direct damages
: damages for a loss that is an immediate, natural, and foreseeable result of the wrongful act — compare special damages in this entry
— exemplary damages \ig-ˈzem-plə-rē-\
: punitive damages in this entry
— expectation damages
: damages recoverable for breach of contract and designed to put the injured party in the position he or she would have been in had the contract been completed — called also expectancy damages
— general damages
1 : damages for a loss that is the natural, foreseeable, and logical result of a wrongful act — compare special damages in this entry
2 : damages for losses (as pain and suffering, inconvenience, or loss of lifestyle) whose monetary values are difficult to assign
— hedonic damages \hi-ˈdä-nik-\
: damages deemed to compensate for the loss of enjoyment of life resulting from a wrongful act
Note: Hedonic damages are not recognized in all jurisdictions.
— incidental damages
: damages recoverable under section 2-715 of the Uniform Commercial Code in breach of contract cases for losses that include expenses incurred in handling and caring for goods which were the subject of the contract, reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining cover, and any other reasonable expenses resulting from the breach that do not fall into any other category
— liquidated damages
: damages whose amount is agreed upon by the parties to a contract as adequately compensating for loss in the event of a breach — called also stipulated damages
Note: Liquidated damages in an amount exceeding that needed to reasonably compensate the injured party constitute a penalty and are therefore void.
— moratory damages
in the civil law of Louisiana : damages recoverable for loss resulting from an obligor's delay in performing
Note: Compensatory damages are recoverable in a case of failure to perform.
— nominal damages
: damages awarded in a small amount (as one dollar) in cases in which a party has been injured but no loss resulted from the injury or in which the injured party failed to prove that loss resulted from the injury
— presumed damages
: damages that are presumed under the law to result naturally and necessarily from a tortious act and that therefore do not require proof
— punitive damages
: damages awarded in cases of serious or malicious wrongdoing to punish or deter the wrongdoer or deter others from behaving similarly — called also exemplary damages, smart money
— special damages
: damages awarded in an amount deemed to compensate for losses that arise not as a natural result of the injury but because of some particular circumstance of the injured party; specifically : damages relating to a business, profession, or property that are easily calculable in monetary terms — called also consequential damages ; compare direct damages in this entry — general damages in this entry
Note: Because special damages do not arise in every case, they must be specifically requested in the pleadings. This is an issue of particular importance in cases of harm to reputation, such as slander, libel, and malicious prosecution.
— stipulated damages
in the civil law of Louisiana : liquidated damages in this entry
— treble damages \ˈtre-bəl-\
: damages awarded in an amount that is three times the amount for which the trier of fact finds the wrongdoer liable
Note: Treble damages are recoverable where authorized by statute and are usually imposed as a punishment.
3 plural : losses for which damages are recoverable
  • did not incur damages, because he was unlikely to win the foreclosure case
  • —Rosalind Resnick

Origin and Etymology of damage

Old French, from dam injury, harm, from Latin damnum financial loss, fine

2

damage

adjective

legal Definition of damage

: of or relating to damages
  • a damage action
  • a damage remedy

Learn More about damage

  1. Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for damage Spanish Central: Translation of damage Nglish: Translation of damage for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of damage for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up damage? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

paste

play

to beat or defeat soundly

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. ideologue 'an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology'

  2. socialism 'a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government'

  3. uphold 'to let stand'

  4. due process 'a course of formal proceedings (as judicial proceedings)'

  5. asylum 'protection from arrest and extradition given especially to political refugees'

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

damage

Test Your Vocabulary

Test Your Emoji Exceptionalism

  • test-your-emoji-exceptionalism-written-with-a-lot-of-emoji
  • What is this emoji intended to represent: 🤳
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games