hurtfully

adverb

as in cruelly

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurtfully
  1. cruelly
  2. harshly
  3. sharply
  4. severely
  5. ill
  6. acutely
  7. poignantly
  8. piercingly
Adverb
  • Rubio did not finish the stage — his Tour cruelly over, just two days before Paris.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 24 July 2026
  • The practice was criticized by advocates and others as cruelly targeting rule followers as low-hanging fruit to meet quotas.
    — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 20 July 2026
Definition of cruelly
Adverb
  • And then, the organization's chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, harshly came out against the plan, releasing a statement to the Associated Press, saying FIFA's staff had been blindsided by it.
    — Rafael Nam, NPR, 31 July 2026
  • Like other senior bankers, Sehnaoui was harshly criticized following Lebanon's historic economic meltdown in 2019, when most people lost access to their money.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 July 2026
Definition of harshly
Adverb
  • It’s been swinging sharply recently and pinballed between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that a deal in the war could allow oil tankers to freely exit the Middle East again and deliver crude worldwide.
    — Stan Choe, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Clashes escalated sharply in February when Afghan forces launched a raid into Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of sharply
Adverb
  • The Houthis have vowed to close the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow waterway through which Saudi Arabia exports up to 7 million barrels of oil a day, now that access to the Strait of Hormuz is severely restricted.
    — Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Lower-income households feel these pressures more severely, since gas represents a larger proportional share of the budget.
    — Catherine Brock, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of severely
Adverb
  • Despite a battery of tests, including a contrast CT scan and bone marrow biopsy, experts could not determine what was making Jackie critically ill.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
  • That’s ultimately why Ted Lasso feels so ill-suited to this subject.
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of ill
Adverb
  • Vance’s comments also seemed to suggest that the administration was more acutely focused on the economic impact of the war than the original aims of the war itself.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The shortage is costing Ukraine most acutely, where cities some nights appear defenseless to Moscow’s rocket assaults.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of acutely
Adverb
  • Our range includes a meandering cowboy odyssey that sprawls from a nowhere town in Texas to Big Sky country, a poignantly observant memoir from a wild child Dreamlander, and a careful dissection of a situationship set to the rhythms of 1970s Brazil.
    — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The reunion, poignantly, took place at Charles’s country home, Highgrove House, where Harry spent much of his childhood.
    — Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 16 July 2026
Definition of poignantly
Adverb
  • Chef Steven Pham is still simmering his signature Northern Vietnamese-style pho ga, which features a soul-piercingly clear broth, tender poached chicken, rice noodles, and a floating raft of fresh herbs.
    — Becky Duffett, Bon Appetit Magazine, 8 June 2026
  • The Towode Door Stop Alarm is a budget-friendly, highly effective safety tool that functions as a wedge door stop and a piercingly loud alarm when activated.
    — Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 31 May 2026
Definition of piercingly
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.

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hurtful
hurtfully
hurting
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Cite this Entry

“Hurtfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurtfully. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

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