1
as in aches
to feel or cause physical pain
my head hurts a bad sprain that really hurts I hurt all over
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in damages
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 injures
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 grieves
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
1
as in pains
a state of great suffering of body or mind
in her hurt she said a lot of things to her boyfriend that she didn't really mean
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in harms
something that causes loss or pain
a totally baseless accusation that caused lasting hurt to his reputation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hurts
Zack Rosenblatt, New York Times, 9 May 2026
But 24 goes too far, dilutes the field and hurts the regular season.
—Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 7 May 2026
Consider sharing this with a mom or mother figure in your life because a little extra sunshine never hurts!
—Ronnie Li, USA Today, 7 May 2026
Leftover hurts from earlier in the week might be percolating on the back burner.
—Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 7 May 2026
San Diego Unified has established phone-free school days because constant phone use hurts attention, classroom culture and student well-being.
—Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026
And that’s why this one hurts differently.
—Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 May 2026
What hurts me most is feeling unsupported by my partner.
—Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 30 Apr. 2026
Critics say that practice raises prices for buyers and hurts the state’s homeownership rate.
—Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 28 Apr. 2026
Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026
Modern play calling insists on going for it on fourth downs, particularly in the opponent’s territory, because converting on fourth down helps more than failing to convert on fourth down hurts.
—Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2026
Work On Your Personal Relationships Work on your most significant personal relationship to shore up conflict, hurts and wounds, and turn it into one that is life-giving and energizing.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Verb
This isn’t a contract that hurts the Jets’ cap flexibility now or in the future since there is no money guaranteed beyond the second year.
—Zack Rosenblatt, New York Times, 9 May 2026
But 24 goes too far, dilutes the field and hurts the regular season.
—Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 7 May 2026
Consider sharing this with a mom or mother figure in your life because a little extra sunshine never hurts!
—Ronnie Li, USA Today, 7 May 2026
Leftover hurts from earlier in the week might be percolating on the back burner.
—Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 7 May 2026
San Diego Unified has established phone-free school days because constant phone use hurts attention, classroom culture and student well-being.
—Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026
And that’s why this one hurts differently.
—Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 May 2026
What hurts me most is feeling unsupported by my partner.
—Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 30 Apr. 2026
Critics say that practice raises prices for buyers and hurts the state’s homeownership rate.
—Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 28 Apr. 2026
Noun
The wounds and humiliations of private life can rarely be redressed by law; literature offers a parallel tribunal in which those hurts are litigated and, if possible, imaginatively overcome.
—Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026
Modern play calling insists on going for it on fourth downs, particularly in the opponent’s territory, because converting on fourth down helps more than failing to convert on fourth down hurts.
—Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2026
Work On Your Personal Relationships Work on your most significant personal relationship to shore up conflict, hurts and wounds, and turn it into one that is life-giving and energizing.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurts
Verb
-
In many ways, Kris aches to be reduced to such simple matter, to strip away all of her heady anxiety and surrender to basic want.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
-
Early symptoms can include fatigue, fever and muscle aches.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
Even one drink of alcohol damages the immune system, lowering its ability to battle invaders within 20 minutes of consumption.—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
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Nebraska 2nd District The leading Democratic hopefuls in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District have been battling over whether one candidate's campaign damages the party's competitiveness in the area.—
Caitlin Yilek,
CBS News,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
This storyline later appeared in the second season of Girls, as Dunham’s character Hannah is overwhelmed with the anxiety of writing a novel and similarly injures herself.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Apr. 2026
-
In her desperation to ask Val for a job on the new sitcom, Sharon falls and injures herself.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The Professor, with only her ex-partner’s cat for company, sits in her decaying apartment and grieves the loss of her relationship and her struggle with infertility.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 May 2026
-
The film follows a woman who grieves the loss of her mother by secretly attending the funerals of strangers.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Common symptoms people experience are headaches, muscle aches, serious fevers, coughing, chest pains, shortness of breath and nausea, according to Kaiser Permanente.—
Noe Padilla,
USA Today,
7 May 2026
-
The pains and pleasures of family life are top of mind for her.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
7 May 2026
Noun
-
At a certain point, not even a generous tip seems like enough to offset these harms.—
Shannon Keating,
Time,
8 May 2026
-
Claiming there were no factual disputes to weigh, the majority agreed that plaintiffs showed that harms from unlawful tariffs were imminent and ongoing, requiring relief in the form of a permanent injunction that must be granted once the court reached a decision on how to interpret the statute.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
My boredom typically spurs feelings of frustration, guilt, shame—and long nutritionless spells of goggling, slack-jawed, at celebrity news on my phone while the world throbs around me.—
Daniel Smith,
The Atlantic,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Pain that is not a word throbs in his shoulders, awakens him each morning.—
Rosa Lyster,
Harpers Magazine,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
No sadness mars the purity of its paranoia.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2026
-
However, an earnestness mars most of the proceedings.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
20 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hurts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurts. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
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