as in damages
something that causes loss or pain
you were lucky to survive the fire without harm no harm in trying
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in injures
to cause bodily damage to
though she wasn't harmed by the flying glass, she slipped and fell on a piece and cut her hand
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hurts
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
the company's reputation has been harmed by allegations of crooked accounting
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of harms
Sreedhar Potarazu, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2026
Dean’s attorneys asked the jury to award $24 million to compensate her for her past and future mental health harms, and around $120 million in punitive damages to punish Uber for its lax safety standards.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2026
See video … LISTEN Tune in for more on the landmark trial testing whether major social media platforms can be held liable for addictive harms to children.
—FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026
Instead of an intelligent, reasonable exploration of the historic harms of corporate consolidation, the MAGA Republicans who dominated the panel used their questions to create more content for the right-wing outrage machine.
—Josef Adalian, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026
The authors and other experts recognize the challenge to drug labeling lies in the need to point out possible harms in an appropriately conservative process that starts with early drug trials, before large amounts of data are amassed.
—Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, 5 Feb. 2026
Once the Black Equity study is complete later this year, the commission will engage an independent third party to conduct an economic analysis and make recommendations about how to repair the harms caused by discrimination.
—Anna Alejo, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
Spain has proposed a ban on social media for kids under the age of 16, joining a growing number of countries that have moved to protect children and teens from potential online harms.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 4 Feb. 2026
There are so many reasons to be mad; the mostly baseless and endless attacks on higher education, the dismantling of life-saving research, ICE, the subverting of policy that redresses shameful social harms.
—Wendy Nelson Espeland, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2026
Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026
Burning fossil fuels also harms human health and creates smog that clouds views from Colorado’s beloved mountains.
—Noelle Phillips, Denver Post, 29 Jan. 2026
And, unlike gooning, or freebasing, reading is the rare instance of an addiction that, as a rule, harms no one and may even sharpen your mind.
—Hermione Hoby, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Research in Organizational Science found that family-to-work conflict—when personal pressures spill into work—harms a firm’s performance.
—Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
Your skin turns white or blue-gray as frostbite progresses and harms all layers of the skin and tissue beneath it.
—Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 22 Jan. 2026
These might be physical harms caused by laboratory techniques or harms stemming from deviations in the traditional family structure.
—Zubin Master, STAT, 20 Jan. 2026
But proposing a return to prohibition ignores decades of evidence showing that criminalization produces family disruption, community destabilization and racially disproportionate enforcement — harms that far exceed those attributed to regulated cannabis markets.
—Chicago Tribune, 18 Jan. 2026
The opposing side has said that Idaho’s law targets and harms trans women and girls and that Hecox, specifically, mitigated any potential advantages through hormone treatments.
—Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, 14 Jan. 2026
Noun
This fragmentation creates blind spots that contribute to adverse drug events, duplication of therapy and inefficient care and harms that ultimately drive up total health care costs.
—Sreedhar Potarazu, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2026
Dean’s attorneys asked the jury to award $24 million to compensate her for her past and future mental health harms, and around $120 million in punitive damages to punish Uber for its lax safety standards.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2026
See video … LISTEN Tune in for more on the landmark trial testing whether major social media platforms can be held liable for addictive harms to children.
—FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026
Instead of an intelligent, reasonable exploration of the historic harms of corporate consolidation, the MAGA Republicans who dominated the panel used their questions to create more content for the right-wing outrage machine.
—Josef Adalian, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026
The authors and other experts recognize the challenge to drug labeling lies in the need to point out possible harms in an appropriately conservative process that starts with early drug trials, before large amounts of data are amassed.
—Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, 5 Feb. 2026
Once the Black Equity study is complete later this year, the commission will engage an independent third party to conduct an economic analysis and make recommendations about how to repair the harms caused by discrimination.
—Anna Alejo, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
Spain has proposed a ban on social media for kids under the age of 16, joining a growing number of countries that have moved to protect children and teens from potential online harms.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 4 Feb. 2026
There are so many reasons to be mad; the mostly baseless and endless attacks on higher education, the dismantling of life-saving research, ICE, the subverting of policy that redresses shameful social harms.
—Wendy Nelson Espeland, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2026
Verb
Meanwhile, Benedict and Sophie fade into the background, especially amid the bizarrely split season, which harms the show’s pacing and its central romantic tension.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026
Burning fossil fuels also harms human health and creates smog that clouds views from Colorado’s beloved mountains.
—Noelle Phillips, Denver Post, 29 Jan. 2026
And, unlike gooning, or freebasing, reading is the rare instance of an addiction that, as a rule, harms no one and may even sharpen your mind.
—Hermione Hoby, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Research in Organizational Science found that family-to-work conflict—when personal pressures spill into work—harms a firm’s performance.
—Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
Your skin turns white or blue-gray as frostbite progresses and harms all layers of the skin and tissue beneath it.
—Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 22 Jan. 2026
These might be physical harms caused by laboratory techniques or harms stemming from deviations in the traditional family structure.
—Zubin Master, STAT, 20 Jan. 2026
But proposing a return to prohibition ignores decades of evidence showing that criminalization produces family disruption, community destabilization and racially disproportionate enforcement — harms that far exceed those attributed to regulated cannabis markets.
—Chicago Tribune, 18 Jan. 2026
The opposing side has said that Idaho’s law targets and harms trans women and girls and that Hecox, specifically, mitigated any potential advantages through hormone treatments.
—Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harms
Noun
-
The civil action, which is seeking more than $15,000 in damages, remains pending in Hartford Superior Court.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Instead, Congress had to pass a law to allow for state and local government officials, such as police officers, to be sued in federal court for money damages.—
Brian Kolp,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Bystander videos, like the ones taken of Pretti, have played a key role for decades in informing the public when law enforcement kills or injures people.—
Ava Berger,
NPR,
28 Jan. 2026
-
California law already criminalizes unsafe gun storage in certain situations, including when a child accesses a firearm and injures or kills someone.—
Grant Stringer,
Mercury News,
29 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Stifling them hurts my back and stomach muscles.—
Abigail Van Buren,
Boston Herald,
31 Jan. 2026
-
And what hurts us much more is not writing.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Maye is unable to participate because of the Patriots advancing to the Super Bowl, while Herbert and Allen dealt with injuries at the end of their seasons.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Since mid-2025, federal immigration agents, including ICE officers, have shot at people at least 16 times during enforcement operations, resulting in multiple injuries and four confirmed deaths.—
Dev Patnaik,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
What once killed campaigns now barely wounds them.—
Mandy Taheri,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Even with all of them in place, Shirley misses the masked attacker sneaking his way up to the apartment door, and Lamb’s attempt to blind him with bleach creates a chaotic struggle that wounds the assailant without containing him.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The picture exudes both grace and vulnerability, and hints at imperfection by way of a disconcerting, coral-like wrinkle that mars the foot’s heel.—
Chris Wiley,
New Yorker,
20 Dec. 2025
-
Deadly holiday weekend mars broad crime drop The back-and-forth followed a Labor Day weekend of deadly violence in Chicago worse than in the previous two years, with seven people shot to death, according to preliminary Chicago Police Department reports.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
When CEOs treat financial advice as a substitute for judgment, leadership starts to erode, decisions slow down, and conviction weakens.—
Melissa Houston,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Trump’s focus on the Western Hemisphere — as a show of might that weakens China’s geostrategic influence, Nikkei wrote.—
Manal Albarakati,
semafor.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
These pressures could produce a tsunami that fractures the state’s fiscal foundation, self-inflicts a crisis ultimately demanding drastic cuts, and cripples its competitiveness.—
Andrew Rein,
New York Daily News,
6 Jan. 2026
-
Scarface and friends attack the lab, and break out the kryptonite that cripples El and Kali.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
31 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harms. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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