damage 1 of 2

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2
as in fine
damages plural a sum of money to be paid as a punishment ordered by the court to pay $1000 in damages

Synonyms & Similar Words

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damage

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word damage distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of damage are harm, hurt, impair, injure, and mar. While all these words mean "to affect injuriously," damage suggests injury that lowers value or impairs usefulness.

a table damaged in shipping

When can harm be used instead of damage?

Although the words harm and damage have much in common, harm often stresses the inflicting of pain, suffering, or loss.

careful not to harm the animals

Where would hurt be a reasonable alternative to damage?

In some situations, the words hurt and damage are roughly equivalent. However, hurt implies inflicting a wound to the body or to the feelings.

hurt by their callous remarks

When might impair be a better fit than damage?

The words impair and damage 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 could injure be used to replace damage?

While the synonyms injure and damage are close in meaning, injure implies the inflicting of anything detrimental to one's looks, comfort, health, or success.

badly injured in an accident

In what contexts can mar take the place of damage?

The words mar and damage can be used in similar contexts, but 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 damage
Noun
In the past, communities in New Mexico faced with pipelines worried about land value losses, increasing insurance rates, and damage to their land, according to Teresa Seamster, the chair of the Sierra Club’s Northern New Mexico group. Sarah Henry, AZCentral.com, 25 Oct. 2025 Border officials and airlines often interpret passport damage differently, which makes any unofficial mark a travel risk. Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 25 Oct. 2025
Verb
In a little less than four years, Russia has damaged or destroyed some 3,500 schools in an apparent campaign to demoralize the population and pave the way for its Russification. Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 19 Oct. 2025 The museum was damaged by Allied bombing in the mid-1940s. Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for damage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for damage
Noun
  • Over the summer the FDA convened a panel on the safety of certain antidepressants in pregnancy that tried to cast doubt on this research, ignoring the real harms of not treating depression or anxiety for pregnant people themselves and for their fetuses.
    Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The park also noted that visitors may unknowingly cause harm to the ecosystem of the area by removing natural items as rocks are often home to small plants, fungi, insects, and other unique species that only exist in that environment.
    Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • In New Jersey, creating or sharing deceptive AI media can lead to prison time and fines.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The fine was related to how users consented to data collection.
    Katrina Bishop, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Russ Anderson also failed to challenge the bank’s incentive compensation program, failed to institute effective controls and repeatedly downplayed sales practices misconduct, Hsu previously said.
    Desiree Mathurin, Charlotte Observer, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Thomas worked with that job title for the school district in 2022 and 2023, according to compensation records provided by the state to Transparent California.
    Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • That's how people buy aviation—safety and cost.
    James Bickerton, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Daylight saving time was introduced in the United States in 1918 with the Standard Time Act, which was meant to lower fuel costs during the First World War.
    Haadiza Ogwude, Cincinnati Enquirer, 25 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Earlier, the agency said a man in his 70s was killed by a falling tree in the southern coastal town of Marigot, while five people were injured in the Artibonite region.
    Josh Cradduck, NBC news, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Unless another boy was injured, a boy with a father who resembled me.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Silas McCay, 21, Levi Sanders, 18, and a 20-year-old female were also wounded, authorities said.
    Joshua Rhett Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Williams shot two, police say, wounding one and killing Comeaux.
    Mitchell Willetts, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Tyson Kozak left the game with a lower-body injury after just three shifts.
    Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
  • According to the Department of Transportation, daylight saving time saves energy, prevents traffic injuries and reduces crime.
    Haadiza Ogwude, Cincinnati Enquirer, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Several years ago, Hamilton County, which avidly pursued death penalty cases for decades, had a larger death row population per capita than the home counties of Los Angeles or Miami.
    Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Officials flagged Raiders left tackle Stone Forsythe for an unnecessary roughness penalty on the play.
    Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Damage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/damage. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.

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