self-harm

noun

ˌself-ˈhärm 

: the act of purposely hurting oneself (as by cutting or burning the skin) as an emotional coping mechanism

An acute change in mood that persists for weeks or is associated with thoughts of self-harm should not be ignored.

—John Williamson

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

The account has been deactivated and was subsequently banned by the social media platform, which noted that the content of his livestream related to self-harm violated TikTok’s community guidelines. — Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 6 Aug. 2026

On Tuesday, social media feeds were flooded with users shocked after allegedly witnessing celebrity blogger Perez Hilton live-streaming acts of self-harm on TikTok. — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2026

Her post comes one day after police were dispatched to the Miami home of Hilton, who appeared to self-harm during a livestream video. — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Aug. 2026

The article raises ethical questions about AI's role in detecting abuse or self-harm, age appropriateness, and its long-term impact on family dynamics, potentially becoming a generational mental health advisor. — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for self-harm

• alarm
• disarm
• forearm
• gendarme
• nonfarm
• rearm
• arm
• charm
• farm
• harm
• firearm
• underarm

Kids Definition

self-harm

noun

ˌself-ˈhärm 

: the act of purposely hurting oneself (as by cutting or burning the skin) as an emotional coping mechanism