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

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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
The hardest decision is whether to redirect a scarce transformer to Red Oak without creating a more damaging delay elsewhere. — Jayashree Arunkumar, Forbes.com, 30 Oct. 2026 Since wood smoke didn’t cause these deleterious effects, the researchers believe that metals may be involved in the most damaging forms of pollution to the brain. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 28 Oct. 2026
Verb
In Newport Beach, high surf and seawater inundated city streets and breached protective berms, damaging some high-end properties. — Cindy Carcamo, Christian Science Monitor, 2 Nov. 2026 Cyclone Arnab battered parts of Andhra Pradesh last week, killing at least five people, damaging homes and infrastructure and inundating roughly 200,000 acres of cropland. — ABC News, 2 Nov. 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
  • If our minds are constantly running at full throttle, potentially harmful molecules might keep piling up faster than the brain can dispose of them.
    — Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Earth's ozone layer acts as a planetary sunscreen, shielding humans, animals, and plants from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
    — Dan Peck, ABC News, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of harmful
Verb
  • In Paris, rioters targeted police with Molotov cocktails at the end of Saturday’s march on the city’s eastern edge, injuring three officers and setting a car ablaze, police said.
    — Angela Charlton, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Several days later, a commuter train near Barcelona derailed, killing the driver and injuring dozens of other people.
    — Hernan Muñoz, NBC news, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of injuring
Verb
  • Russian drones struck six areas in the Dnipropetrovsk region, wounding three people in the city of Dnipro, regional administrator Oleksandr Hanzha said.
    — Derek Gatopoulos, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026
  • In the northeast city of Kharkiv, the regional administration said a Russian strike hit a medical facility, wounding 25 people and forcing the evacuation of around 200 patients.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of wounding
Adjective
  • Cannabis impairs cognitive functioning and can be particularly detrimental to young brains that are still developing.
    — Sarah Owermohle, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2026
  • So in this episode of the Outdoor Life Podcast, Sturgis will reference his decades of experience working on private land habitat as well as his time spent hunting on public ground to outline the most common and detrimental deer hunting mistakes.
    — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 1 Nov. 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
  • The express trains would skip local stops in most communities, offering zero service to residents along the rail line while potentially hurting state and federal funding for existing systems such as the CTA and Metra that serve actual commuters.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Google's problem is that chatbots are becoming an alternative to search, leading consumers to click far fewer blue links and hurting Google's ad revenue.
    — Ari Levy, CNBC, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of hurting
Adjective
  • Though Awawdeh was friendly, Jontay knew that he was connected to some dangerous associates, including the Gambino crime family in New York.
    — New Yorker, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2026
  • But the proliferation of inexpensive first-person-view (FPV) aerial drones has made this incredibly dangerous.
    — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of dangerous
Verb
  • The testing represents an important step in assessing whether existing mortar ammunition can be adapted for unmanned delivery without compromising its original design and safety requirements.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Expectations should match the risks involved without compromising independence.
    — Avani Desai, Fortune, 6 Nov. 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 10 Nov. 2026.

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