HARMFULNESS Synonyms: 35 Similar and Opposite Words

harmfulness

noun

Definition of harmfulness

as in offensiveness

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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 harmfulness While pollinators die in large numbers due to exposure to neonicotinoids, those trying to save bees are forced to prove the harmfulness of the substances used in pesticides, while industry pushes back. — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 27 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for harmfulness

Noun

But Hokit’s offensiveness in the shadow of the president’s home — with the Washington Monument visible to the south — was one indication that anything and everything was inbounds.

— Oskar Garcia, New York Times, 15 June 2026
During this period, Dhillon moved away from the Review’s gleeful offensiveness toward positions suggesting a more moderate conservatism.

— Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 13 Apr. 2026

Definition of offensiveness

Noun

While Season 1 focused on the evil lurking underneath suburban comfort, Season 2 will have a different aesthetic.

— Joe Otterson, Variety, 17 Aug. 2026
For instance, as a Christian, I am called to vote for doing justice, making peace, loving mercy, being humble, doing good and resisting evil and, most of all, loving my neighbor, whoever that is.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of evil

Noun

What about how police agencies understand criminality and risk can only be put on the table and frankly stated behind closed doors?

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Aug. 2026
The Jackson County District Attorney's office has previously said convening a grand jury does not mean there is any criminality and is standard procedure for most unnatural or suspicious deaths in the county.

— Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of criminality

Noun

But soon after, in Genesis 18, God tells Abraham of plans to investigate reports of sinfulness in Sodom and Gomorrah.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 July 2026
Denver author Josiah Hesse was raised by Evangelical parents in churches that believe in the torments of hell, that their poverty is due to their sinfulness and lack of faith.

— Sandra Dallas, Denver Post, 1 Feb. 2026

Definition of sinfulness

Noun

Since the middle of the twentieth century, societies around the globe have undergone a collective revolution in standards and attitudes towards obscenity and immorality.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026
Independents said the worst thing about Republicans was their loyalty to Trump (10%), perceptions of corruption and self-enrichment (8%), dishonesty, hypocrisy or immorality (7%), a lack of concern for ordinary people or cruelty (6%), and ineffective and weak or unqualified leadership (5%).

— Emily Guskin, ABC News, 27 May 2026

Definition of immorality

Noun

Miller was bold, having learned of life’s wickedness at an early age.

— Air Mail, Air Mail, 25 July 2026
Max Cady should be an unsettling interruption, a man who undermines our ideas of right and wrong through his nonchalance about his own wickedness; here, the most unsettling thing about him are those teal contact lenses.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 26 June 2026

Definition of wickedness

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harmful

harmfulness

harming

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“Harmfulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harmfulness. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of harmfulness

noun

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