as in harmful
causing or capable of causing harm
there were serious concerns that the factory's waste was detrimental to the local environment
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 detrimental
What To Know In a video address, Probitkin said UnitedHealthcare has offered solutions that are one-sided and would be detrimental to patients and providers and accused big insurers like UnitedHealthcare of taking advantage of regional and safety net health care providers.
—
Lauren Giella, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
That’s not only unnecessary, but can be detrimental to the plants and the wider ecosystem.
—Erica Browne Grivas, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Oct. 2025
Either way, the results can be detrimental - account takeovers, data theft, ransom demands, or widespread business compromise.
—Ken Colburn, AZCentral.com, 26 Oct. 2025
Cramer said UnitedHealth might reveal whether the government’s investigation into its billing practices is detrimental.
—Julie Coleman, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for detrimental
Lauren Giella, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
That’s not only unnecessary, but can be detrimental to the plants and the wider ecosystem.
—Erica Browne Grivas, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Oct. 2025
Either way, the results can be detrimental - account takeovers, data theft, ransom demands, or widespread business compromise.
—Ken Colburn, AZCentral.com, 26 Oct. 2025
Cramer said UnitedHealth might reveal whether the government’s investigation into its billing practices is detrimental.
—Julie Coleman, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for detrimental
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detrimental
Adjective
-
Specialty cleaners made for glass cooktops don’t contain harmful ingredients like ammonia.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Small settings changes can make a big difference in reducing exposure to harmful or suggestive content.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The former hurricane unleashed catastrophic flooding in Haiti, damaging homes and forcing thousands of people into emergency shelters.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Following a damaging price war, Beijing’s new five-year plan signaled the government will reduce EV subsidies and instead let the market decide winners and losers in the sector, the China-Global South Project wrote.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Working within restricted space, Lanthimos felt the need to go big with the filmmaking, both with supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Johnnie Burn’s sound design and composer Jerskin Fendrix’s music, which is by far the biggest score in the score-adverse director’s career.—
Chris O'Falt,
IndieWire,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Such issues include severe weather impacts, adverse road conditions and trash buildups that pose a threat to human and/or wildlife health.—
Michael Salerno,
AZCentral.com,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
But the succession crisis that her sudden and dangerous illness had brought to the fore would dominate the rest of her long reign.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Systems can be configured to identify signs of structural weaknesses, gas leaks, and other potentially dangerous stimuli emerging in hazardous areas and send data-rich alerts to operators suggesting a response.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Democrats are favored to win both gubernatorial races this year, so a GOP upset in either state would be a bad sign for the party currently locked out of power in Washington.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
2 Nov. 2025
-
Nick Saban certainly made more good decisions than bad ones during his run to seven national championships as a college football coach.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Detrimental.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detrimental. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share