: the act of purposely hurting oneself (as by cutting or burning the skin) as an emotional coping mechanism
Although most cutters are young women who have been emotionally, sexually, or physically abused as children, [Marilee] Strong's research shows that this specific type of self-harm also appears in other groups.Maria Simson et al.

called also self-injury, self-mutilation

self-harm intransitive verb
self-harmed; self-harming; self-harms
teenagers who self-harm

Examples of self-harm in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Some have been caught encouraging self-harm, giving diet tips for eating disorders or pretending to be romantic partners. Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2025 Meta made changes to its AI chatbot policies following the report and now prevents its bots from discussing subjects like self-harm, suicide and eating disorders with teens. Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2025 The settings implemented default privacy protections and content limits for many of Instagram’s teen users, restricting posts related to violence, cosmetic procedures or self-harm. Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025 The chatbots should also be trained to avoid sharing information regarding suicide or self-harm and redirect users engaging in such conversations to crisis management helplines. PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for self-harm

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of self-harm was in 1983

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Self-harm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-harm. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

self-harm

noun
: the act of purposely hurting oneself (as by cutting or burning the skin) as an emotional coping mechanism
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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