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
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
20 June 2026
Keeping it becomes the thing that hurts us all.
—
Emily St. Martin,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2026
No spin, no silver lining, just plain acknowledgment that losing hurts.
—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
18 June 2026
Supporters dispute the characterization that the initiative hurts environmental safeguards.
—
Stephen Hobbs,
Sacbee.com,
17 June 2026
Sometimes love is messy and toxic and hurts people’s feelings, and that’s just Love Island, baby.
—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
16 June 2026
The internet hurts a child all the time.
—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
15 June 2026
Traditional materials capable of withstanding these conditions are dense, which hurts fuel economy.
—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
12 June 2026
My son was defending himself, and that's what hurts so bad.
—
Ken Molestina,
CBS News,
11 June 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
With the Sox contending for a postseason spot, every day is now important, and the losing hurts more.
—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
20 June 2026
Keeping it becomes the thing that hurts us all.
—
Emily St. Martin,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2026
No spin, no silver lining, just plain acknowledgment that losing hurts.
—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
18 June 2026
Supporters dispute the characterization that the initiative hurts environmental safeguards.
—
Stephen Hobbs,
Sacbee.com,
17 June 2026
Sometimes love is messy and toxic and hurts people’s feelings, and that’s just Love Island, baby.
—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
16 June 2026
The internet hurts a child all the time.
—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
15 June 2026
Traditional materials capable of withstanding these conditions are dense, which hurts fuel economy.
—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
12 June 2026
My son was defending himself, and that's what hurts so bad.
—
Ken Molestina,
CBS News,
11 June 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
-
The clinic states that symptoms of the illness include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, headache, fever and body aches.
-
Most people have no symptoms, but mild symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, skin rash on trunk of body and swollen lymph glands.
Verb
-
Dana Sue and Ronnie's strained relationship is exasperated by a fire that breaks out — accelerated by off-brand e-bikes Ronnie bought behind Dana Sue’s back and stored in their garage — and damages their house.
-
Roslovic’s poor playoff showing severely damages his chances of earning an extension with the Oilers for next season and of a sizable deal elsewhere.
Verb
-
Who is responsible when a robot breaks something or injures someone?
-
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.
Verb
-
Each person grieves differently.
-
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.
Noun
-
The colors, pains, pleasures, smells, tastes and sounds, the what-it’s-like of being conscious, are not private inner bits and blobs that philosophers call qualia, floating in a theatre of the mind.
-
Unfortunately, days before the ceremony, Nelson began experiencing chest pains while visiting with a friend.
Noun
-
Tightly regulated systems, like Uruguay's, or decriminalization avoid these harms.
-
You might not have been affected by this round of layoffs, but the harms of extreme wealth concentration are coming for all of us.
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.
-
Pain that is not a word throbs in his shoulders, awakens him each morning.
Verb
-
No sadness mars the purity of its paranoia.
-
However, an earnestness mars most of the proceedings.
Cite this Entry
“Hurts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurts. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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