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hurt

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noun

hurt

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adjective

Synonym Chooser

How is the word hurt distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of hurt are damage, harm, impair, injure, and mar. While all these words mean "to affect injuriously," hurt implies inflicting a wound to the body or to the feelings.

hurt by their callous remarks

When can damage be used instead of hurt?

Although the words damage and hurt have much in common, damage suggests injury that lowers value or impairs usefulness.

a table damaged in shipping

When might harm be a better fit than hurt?

The words harm and hurt can be used in similar contexts, but harm often stresses the inflicting of pain, suffering, or loss.

careful not to harm the animals

When could impair be used to replace hurt?

The words impair and hurt are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, impair suggests a making less complete or efficient by deterioration or diminution.

years of smoking had impaired his health

When would injure be a good substitute for hurt?

While in some cases nearly identical to hurt, injure implies the inflicting of anything detrimental to one's looks, comfort, health, or success.

badly injured in an accident

When is mar a more appropriate choice than hurt?

While the synonyms mar and hurt are close in meaning, mar applies to injury that spoils perfection (as of a surface) or causes disfigurement.

the text is marred by many typos

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 hurt
Noun
The statement, signed by groups including the Law Society of Kenya, Police Reforms Working Group and the Kenya Medical Association, said 83 of those hurt had serious injuries and at least eight protesters were treated for gunshot wounds. Larry Madowo, CNN Money, 25 June 2025 But security experts could find themselves in a similar position to that of economists: despite near-total expert consensus that tariffs will spark a trade war and hurt the U.S. economy, Trump plowed ahead. Florence Gaub, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
Adjective
The ongoing search for Grant Hardin, 56, has sparked urgent warnings from local law enforcement, put residents of a small northwest Arkansas town on edge and reignited feelings of hurt and pain that the family of one victim had tried to bury. Minyvonne Burke, NBC news, 28 May 2025 My back hurt from that sad excuse for a chair (seriously, who designs dining chairs to feel like medieval torture devices?). Renae Gregoire, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for hurt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurt
Verb
  • The slides are very comfortable and give my foot enough support to not ache at the end of the day!
    Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 21 June 2025
  • Niamh has created a world that feels both thrillingly glamorous and emotionally raw, with characters who ache with ambition, desire, and heartbreak.
    Max Goldbart, Deadline, 18 June 2025
Verb
  • Don't use harsh cleaners, which can damage the grates.
    Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 1 July 2025
  • But opponents contend that industrial animal agriculture actually jeopardizes food security, by damaging local ecosystems, undermining traditional agricultural practices, and intensifying climate harms.
    Christine Ro, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
Verb
  • Clark has been injured and has struggled lately, going just 13-of-47 from three-point territory in her last three games and missing six of the Indiana Fever's 16 games this season.
    Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 1 July 2025
  • At least 968 civilians were killed and over 4,800 injured.
    Katya Soldak, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
Verb
  • She’s encountered many grieving parents who lost their children to gunfire.
    Tribune News Service, Twin Cities, 21 June 2025
  • Like the notion of never stepping into the same river twice, the protagonist in my own book, upon finally accepting that loving a river is an act of loving an ever-changing, never-graspable flow, is irrevocably changed by that painful experience and yet doesn’t have the staying power to grieve it.
    Siouxzi Connor June 20, Literary Hub, 20 June 2025
Noun
  • Buildings continue to fall into economic distress because of government’s housing policies.
    Alva Badillo, New York Daily News, 29 June 2025
  • In line with these ideas, researchers published findings in 2023 that showed that meditation increased people’s concern for the suffering of others—and that, by comparison, people without this practice were more oriented to their own distress.
    Mariah G. Schug, Scientific American, 27 June 2025
Noun
  • There is a presumption of irreparable harm, Brann noted, after a finding of trademark infringement.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 1 July 2025
  • Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm.
    Tanasia Kenney, Miami Herald, 1 July 2025
Verb
  • Wasp abstracts that pain away—while giving AI systems a higher-level interface to build on.
    Josipa Majic Predin, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025
  • Alonso rushed over and knelt down next to Senga as he was attended to by the trainers, looking pained himself.
    Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 12 June 2025
Verb
  • They were marred by injuries throughout the season, having entered the season with somewhat high expectations.
    Ricardo Klein, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
  • Once a peaceful area for walking and cycling, it’s now marred by dilapidated vehicles, trash and environmental hazards — posing serious health and safety concerns.
    U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Hurt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurt. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.

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