as in detrimental
causing or capable of causing harm
DDT has been proven to be extremely harmful to the environment
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Recent Examples of harmful
Residents east of Longview, Texas, faced potentially harmful levels of air pollution in the early hours of Tuesday morning, a live map from AirNow showed.
—
Joe Edwards, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
These are antioxidants that help protect your cells from damage caused by harmful compounds called free radicals.
—Lindsey Desoto, Health, 4 Nov. 2025
Any item that may be deemed potentially harmful.
—Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 3 Nov. 2025
This process helps kill harmful bacteria.
—Pranjal Malewar, New Atlas, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmful
Joe Edwards, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
These are antioxidants that help protect your cells from damage caused by harmful compounds called free radicals.
—Lindsey Desoto, Health, 4 Nov. 2025
Any item that may be deemed potentially harmful.
—Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 3 Nov. 2025
This process helps kill harmful bacteria.
—Pranjal Malewar, New Atlas, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harmful
Adjective
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And since there aren’t special teams in basketball, being bad at both is pretty detrimental.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
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Harsh Water Exposure Pool water and ocean water can both be detrimental to keeping your color vibrant.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Seven lawsuits filed this week in California allege that ordinary users seeking school help, spiritual reassurance, or simple conversation were instead drawn into psychologically damaging exchanges that ultimately preceded several suicides.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Nov. 2025
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Vietnam is preparing for damaging winds, flooding, heavy rain and storm surges in its central provinces including Danang, Quang Ngai and Dak Lak.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
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Because obesity will drive higher blood pressure, higher blood sugar, more adverse cholesterol levels—all sorts of things—that sort of becomes a perfect storm.—
Veronique Greenwood,
Time,
6 Nov. 2025
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These weather conditions will result in elevated fire potential and a threat of adverse fire behavior.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
“Harmful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harmful. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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