damaging 1 of 2

adjective

ˈda-mi-jiŋ How to pronounce damaging (audio)
Definition of damagingnext
as in harmful
causing or capable of causing harm the damaging effects of the sun on unprotected skin

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

damaging

2 of 2

verb

present participle of damage
1
as in injuring
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of the explosion in the sewers damaged the entire city's water supply

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in wounding
to cause bodily damage to his knee was badly damaged in the accident, and he walked with a limp for months

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 damaging
Adjective
Strong overnight thunderstorms brought heavy rain and damaging winds to the Kansas City metro, prompting a tornado warning for Clay County and leaving thousands of people without power Wednesday morning. — Kansas City Star, 14 Oct. 2026 In a culture marked by high-power distance, that’s a particularly damaging signal. — Ryoji Sekido, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026
Verb
Extreme waves that winter destroyed one-third of the Santa Monica Pier and tore off large sections of the Huntington Beach Pier and the Paradise Cove Pier, while also damaging the Seal Beach, San Clemente and Malibu piers. — Gary Griggs, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2026 Too little, and the energy races past without doing any work, eventually damaging other components. — Rowan Jacobsen, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for damaging
Recent Examples of Synonyms for damaging
  1. harmful
  2. injuring
  3. wounding
  4. detrimental
  5. marring
  6. hurting
  7. dangerous
  8. compromising
Adjective
  • Social media giant Meta was hit with a class action lawsuit in Australia on behalf of children and teenagers who allegedly suffered harm over the addictive design features and exposure to harmful content on its platforms Facebook and Instagram.
    — Chad de Guzman, Time, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Their contracts can run hundreds of pages, making harmful terms easy to bury.
    — Emma Witman, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of harmful
Verb
  • Strus also will be out for a while after injuring his right foot during training camp.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • This is where Krasner and Pollock lived for nearly 11 years, until Pollock killed himself and one of his passengers, Edith Metzger, while driving drunk, injuring his girlfriend, Ruth Kligman, too.
    — John Yau, ARTnews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of injuring
Verb
  • Russia's aerial attacks hit 12 regions of Ukraine overnight, killing at least four people and wounding scores of others, including five children, Zelenskyy said on social media Thursday.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2026
  • In 2016, gunmen ambushed police in a series of attacks in Karak, including at a Crusader castle popular with tourists, killing 10 people, including seven officers, and wounding dozens.
    — Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of wounding
Adjective
  • The company still faces numerous personal injury claims and a separate federal case involving a group of nationwide school districts that also focus on allegations that apps like Instagram have had detrimental effects on the well being of children.
    — Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Often, those firms’ IT heads think those changes are detrimental.
    — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of detrimental
Verb
  • The Trib is withholding Nick’s full name to avoid marring his reputation in the eyes of future employers or others who might run a search on him.
    — Kate Payne, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The latter track takes overt inspiration from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette, as Jepsen beckons her love to engage in life’s vices with her, like marring bedsheets with fruit stains and dashing nude through the garden.
    — Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of marring
Verb
  • Things already had been tough internally amid the engagement challenges hurting Netflix’s stock as high-profile series had not performed to expectations and most returning shows have seen viewership declines season-to-season over the past year.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The nationwide high school protest movement — over deteriorating school buildings, teacher shortages, and inequalities hurting schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods — has energized young voters, who may prove key to the election outcome.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of hurting
Adjective
  • In November 2021, crew members took shelter inside their spacecraft after a Russian anti-satellite weapons test created a dangerous cloud of debris.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • In 2015, Chicago’s public health department identified three cases of invasive meningococcal disease, a highly dangerous pathogen that can kill within hours.
    — Julie Morita, Time, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of dangerous
Verb
  • What stood out to me this season was the confidence of designers expressing their own creative vision without compromising their cultural roots.
    — Denni Hu, Footwear News, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Let them — especially the new governor, presumably Xavier Becerra — consider enacting new CEQA reforms, holding months of public hearings and ultimately compromising on a deal.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of compromising

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damages
damaging
dame
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Cite this Entry

“Damaging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/damaging. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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