hurting 1 of 2

adjective

as in aching
causing or feeling bodily pain a badly hurting finger kept her from writing neatly

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

hurting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of hurt
1
as in throbbing
to feel or cause physical pain my head hurts a bad sprain that really hurts I hurt all over

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of don't worry that you'll hurt the new lawn by walking across it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in injuring
to cause bodily damage to the common belief that reading in poor light hurts your eyes

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in grieving
to feel deep sadness or mental pain I know you must be hurting from the cruel words they said

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 hurting
Verb
Higher rates may slow loan growth for banks, hurting their bottom lines. — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026 Windows had been boarded up to avoid glass shards hurting anyone in case of an explosion. — ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026 Also hurting this week in the Dolphins’ receiving corps is fellow rookie third-round pick Chris Bell. — David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 24 Sep. 2026 El Nino is already fueling wildfires across farmland, depleting water supplies for major cities and hurting fish catches in the region. — Edna Tarigan, Arkansas Online, 23 Sep. 2026 In late July, Fortescue told investors China had cut back on its iron ore purchases, hurting revenues. — Vivienne Walt, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026 Global diesel prices could skyrocket — hurting US customers in Europe and Latin America. — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 2026 Maria Menounos Extra host Maria Menounos sustained multiple injuries on season 14 of DWTS, hurting her chin and ribs, and suffering a stress fracture to her right foot. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Sep. 2026 Foerster looked to be on his way to a true breakout season before hurting his shoulder last December, flashing a dangerous shot to go with responsible defensive play and using his big body. — Kevin Kurz, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurting
  1. aching
  2. damaging
  3. injuring
  4. grieving
  5. painful
  6. marring
  7. wounding
  8. mourning
Adjective
  • The homestretch of the drama, however, takes the story in a chilling direction, packing an aching quantity of feeling into a single glance at a security camera as someone climbs into a car and leaves the compound, never to be heard from again.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 26 May 2026
  • Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain (1997) Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain is an aching, tender slow burn shaped by absence.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2026
Definition of aching
Verb
  • David Hearn, the former Olympics canoeist accused of damaging Washington's Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool before prosecutors dropped the case, cannot be recharged, a judge has ruled.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Meanwhile, on the charging case, iFixit struggled to access its components without damaging the external plastic.
    — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of damaging
Verb
  • North Korean mines have occasionally been carried into South Korea by swollen rivers, killing or injuring civilians.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Hall, 25, is considered week-to-week after injuring his groin in Sunday’s 31-24 loss to the Lions, sources confirmed.
    — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of injuring
Verb
  • But while politicians trade barbs, residents in Rio de Janeiro have been designing their own responses, with ex-traffickers launching podcasts and grieving mothers stepping up to stop youth recruitment.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026
  • The Justice Department unveiled a $25 million grant opportunity Thursday as Attorney General Todd Blanche hosted violent crime survivors and grieving families for a summit focused on public safety and support for victims.
    — Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of grieving
Adjective
  • After the Great Depression, school districts revisited the idea during the energy crisis of the 1970s, following the 1973 Arab oil embargo and the painful years of stagflation that followed.
    — Muskaan Arshad, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Continue reading … -- IN OTHER NEWS HIDDEN ILLNESS — Country star reveals the painful symptom that led to cancer diagnosis.
    — , FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of painful
Verb
  • The latter track takes overt inspiration from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette, as Jepsen beckons her love to engage in life’s vices with her, like marring bedsheets with fruit stains and dashing nude through the garden.
    — Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
  • There has been no evidence of widespread fraud marring American elections.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of marring
Verb
  • Three gunmen opened fire at a house party in KwaMakhutha township near Durban, killing 11 people, including a pregnant woman, and wounding three others.
    — Gerald Imray, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The confrontation began Friday after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a mosque, and gunmen stormed the facility, killing 21 people and wounding 103 others.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of wounding
Verb
  • An absent father—mourning a mother—a startling lack of siblings but a plethora of cousins—exile from her community.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Now, his family and the local community are mourning the teen known for his extraordinary kindness.
    — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of mourning

Browse Nearby Words

hurtfully
hurting
hurting (for)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hurting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurting. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All